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Winnipeg is stalling on a compost program

Compost can enrich your soil, and your life
photo: greenbudget via wordpress.com

Toronto has one.

San Francisco has one, too.

Even Brandon has one.

Why not Winnipeg?

It’s time for Winnipeg to adopt a citywide compost system.

“Public awarness is a big issue. People have to learn to compost effectively, and the benefits of composting,” said Randall McQuaker, executive director at Resource Conservation Manitoba.

”We have to look at this as a lifestyle process, and the savings that will come along with composting. We wouldn’t be transporting the waste as far to landfills, and the end product of the compost has economic value in and out of Manitoba. So there may be an initial cost to the program, but ultimately it’s a good thing for the city to consider.”

Manitobans produce about one million tonnes of waste each year, according to a recent CTV Winnipeg story.

The waste collects in one of 250 landfills around the province, like the Brady Road landfill. That breaks down to almost one ton of waste per person, per year.

Not only that, but Manitobans are among the worst waste offenders in Canada, diverting only about 13 per cent of our garbage away from landfills.

Compare that to Nova Scotia, where the province diverts about 40 per cent of its waste. Not only that, but Nova Scotians are among the best recyclers in Canada, with 99 per cent of households taking part.

Manitobans are far behind, with only 88 per cent of households taking the time to recycle. Despite being the capital city, Winnipeg is one of the worst offenders.

If Winnipeggers are so bad at recycling, how can they be expected to adopt a compost program as well?

“Brandon stepped up and it was a community decision for them,” said Rod McCormick, policy analyst for Manitoba Conservation, in a phone interview. “They moved to a three stream waste management system, and it has paid off for them.”

Brandon citizens voted to implement a new, greener way of collecting waste in the city, and they have seen reduced use of their landfills since the program started in 2005. Many restaurants also participate in the program by composting their food scraps.

Overall, it was not a huge change for citizens of Brandon to adopt. Yet, it has made the city much greener. What’s to stop Winnipeg from implementing the same system?

“There are a few things we’d have to do. We would need to set up a compost facility, and make sure it was sound,” said McCormick. “Make sure it wasn’t annoying neighbours, there was no runoff into neighbouring waters, that sort of thing. But after the initial costs, it wouldn’t be that hard to sustain.”

One of the reasons Manitobans may be so lazy when it comes to waste management could be our sprawling prairie landscape. Winnipeggers have so much space; the garbage isn’t piling up inside the city. It’s out of sight, out of mind.

However, for budget-conscious Winnipeg, the tipping point may come in the form of compost and recycling incentives, programs cities like Calgary and Halifax have already adopted.

“I lived in Halifax, and recycling and composting there was the law,” said Clancy Sullivan, yoga instructor at Moksha Yoga Winnipeg.

“Every household, every apartment had these little buckets. And once a week the garbage truck would come, the recycling truck would come, and the compost truck would come. Not only that, but they would do random garbage checks. If you had recyclables or compost in your garbage, you would get fined!”

Perhaps that’s the only way Winnipeggers would get the message.

“I currently compost,” said Mesia Custodio, another teacher at Moksha Yoga Winnipeg.

“But it’s hard to collect. It takes a long time for the compost to be useable in a garden. That’s why the city needs to step up and collect it, store it for us.”

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