Aurora expands compost program in bid to trim waste
Yorkregion.com
April 8, 2016
By Teresa Latchford
Aurora will expand its backyard composting program to reduce curb-side waste.
Last year, Aurora partnered with York Region environmental services to run the Greener Gardens Composting pilot project. The pilot was in support of the SM4RT Living Plan’s Food Waste Reduction Strategy, a region-wide initiative with the goal of reducing food waste to 15 per cent by 2031.
Each Aurora participant was provided with an opportunity to learn to compost at home and provided the town and region with data on the amount of food waste they diverted from curbside pickup.
“We loved the idea of diverting green bin waste and enriching our garden in the process,” one participant said.
“(We participated) because we love to be a part of anything green and good for our Earth and community,” another said. “This (was) also a good lesson for our three kids.”
With the provided composter, site visits and advice from town and region staff, participants recorded the amount of food and yard waste composted over a three-month period. At the end of the pilot project, each participant averaged 18.7 kilograms of composted material, such as grass clippings, weeds and egg shells, that the town didn’t have to pick up and pay to dispose.
Results indicated an average of 50 kg of kitchen and yard waste can be diverted annually with a backyard composter per household member, according to Infrastructure and Environmental Services director Ilmar Simanovskis.
If only 10 per cent of residents, about 1,800 households, diverted 248 tonnes of food and yard waste out of the regional system each year, it would save $25,000 in waste collection costs.
“The knowledge gained from the successful completion of the pilot is now being used to extend the program further within Aurora and to other municipalities in York Region,” the staff report, presented by Simanovskis, indicated.
“The goal of the program expansion is to ensure residents have the incentives and necessary support to take up and sustain backyard composting and divert these organics from collection.”
Pending final approval at next week’s council meeting, the town plans to provide 200 Aurora households with a free backyard composter, in exchange for their participation in composting education through monthly newsletters, a pledge to install and use the composter and to agree to complete a follow-up survey in October.
The program costs will be split with the region, with the town paying $3,500 from its 2016 operating budget.
These households will have access to town and region staff for advice, as well as volunteer mentors from the pilot project.
Interested households will be able to register for the program at aurora.ca beginning in May and the bins will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis.
York Region offers a host of tips and tricks to set up your own backyard composter:
1. Choose a sunny location with good drainage
2. To prevent pests or rodents from disturbing the composter, place a base of chicken wire on the ground and set the composter on top of the base
3. Layer materials high in nitrogen like kitchen scraps and grass clippings with materials high in carbon like dried leaves. Alternate the layers and turn the compost regularly
4. Place finished compost or garden soil in a thin layer, approximately 2.5 centimetres or one-inch thick over the kitchen waste to speed up the composting and reduce odours
5. Always keep compost material as moist as a damp sponge
6. Chop waste into smaller pieces for faster decomposition
7. Avoid adding a thick layer of any material, particularly grass; mix it with other materials
8. Compost through the winter; the composting process slows down but speeds up again in the spring
Materials you can compost include:
Coffee grounds and filters, egg shells, flowers, fruits and vegetables, grass clippings, hair, leaves, plants, rice, bread and pasta, sawdust, straw or hay, tea bags and tea leaves, weeds before they seed and wood chips
For more information, visit York.ca
