Pets are a wonderful addition to any family. They often go unheralded for their day-to-day heroics, but any dog or cat lover will tell you that there is no substitute for fur. I have come to believe that with each stroke, scratch and pat on the head my blood pressure drops a point.

When work gets backed up and I feel overwhelmed, coming home to the unconditional love of a pet can mean all the difference in the world.

One of the challenges of having pets is what to do with them when you are away. This is where good friends come in. When we go on vacation, we ask one of our "young" friends to house-sit. It is a real win-win scenario: Our friend gets to enjoy living alone for awhile, and we get someone to love our pets while we are away.

In fact, the last time she came over to house-sit, the dogs started crooning for her the moment they heard her car pulling up the driveway. The mutts practically shooed us out the door.

We have another "older" friend who volunteers to come over and walk the dogs when we are away for the weekend. Married with pets of her own, house-sitting is out of the question, so she schedules visits. In fact, she loves our dogs so much she sometimes drops by just to check in on them.

We, of course, have returned the favor for our friends. We have cared for dogs, cats, bunnies, mice, birds, turtles, fish and guinea pigs — just to name a few.

Still, all the pet-sitting in the world could not have prepared me for the e-mail I received two weeks ago. The subject line read "worm sitting" and I was sure it was some kind of practical joke or perhaps even a virus.

It turned out that a colleague of mine at the University of Hawai'i School of Social Work will be gone for most of the summer and needed someone to look after her compost bin and, more importantly, her night crawlers.

Calling the worms pets may be a bit of a stretch — she hasn't named them or anything — but they do have their own home and a special diet.

You would think that worm-sitting is a no-brainer. They are worms, after all.

But it's not that easy. Evidently, her worms are picky eaters — they like squash, banana peels and other soft foods but hate broccoli. She said her husband even tried cutting the flowerets into small bite-size pieces but to no avail.

Like Dubya, they won't touch 'em. Coincidence?

Besides dietary constraints, the worms also have specific housing needs. They reside in a three-story condo that stands nearly 4 feet tall. It is dark and moist and must be kept in a cool place. They are heat- and light-sensitive and any drastic change in climate could cause a mass kill.

Sounds like a miniature version of our world.

To be honest, I was expecting the worms to be low-maintenance. As it turns out, they may be more work than I bargained for, but I'm up for the challenge.

I am not sure that the worms will ease my stressed-out lifestyle the same way my dogs do, but it may just ease my mind knowing that I am doing my part for the environment.

We will get to take "worm composting" out for a test drive and fill another puka in our green lifestyle plan.

My family will get to add a new pet to our list of animals we have cared for.

And best of all, we will be there for a friend, which is what real green-living is all about.

Michael C. DeMattos is a member of the faculty at the University of Hawai'i School of Social Work. He lives in Kane'ohe with his wife, daughter, two dogs and two mice.

Reach Michael DeMattos at (Unknown address).