Rocky Mountain House residents have been answering the call by participating in the Town’s Green Bin Composting program, which has contributed to a significant decrease in waste headed to the landfill.
First introduced in 2021, the program has seen a 23 per cent decrease in the amount of compostable waste headed to the landfill, says Town of Rocky Mountain House communications coordinator, Laura Button.
That’s according to a waste audit which found 61 per cent of the waste in 2019 was compostable, compared with 47 per cent in 2023.
However, Button says there’s more work to be done.
“Council has put some money toward a campaign to get those numbers up,” says Button. “We want to see more diversion of organic and compostable materials going to the landfills.”
The organic material collected from green bins is transported to a farm which turns it into nutrient-rich fertilizer, says Button, while organic material that ends up in landfills doesn’t break down and simply wallows as landfills are oxygen deserts.
To achieve the goal of reduced waste, Button says one initiative the Town has undertaken is an education campaign to reduce waste, such as a diagram to show people how to properly store perishable food in their refrigerator.
Those include keeping your milk in the middle of the refrigerator, keeping your meat away from other items to avoid contamination, and using your freezer to keep spoilable foods for later.
(Photo by Town of Rocky Mountain House/Used with permission)
The Town has also set out a goal of 50 per cent participation among Town residents and less 25 per cent of compostable material in the landfill stream, says Button.
She says a future focus of the campaign will be educating residents on what can be put in your green bin. That includes pet waste, pizza boxes and takeout containers.
During the summer, residents can enter a contest by visiting the Town of Rocky Mountain House booth at the Marketplace on Main, says Button, and enter to win a special kitchen catcher to make composting easier.
Button adds, people will also be able to pick up their free waterproof sticker to put on their composting bin, as well as a Green Bin fridge magnet.
Three brothers who aced the Store it Right activity at July 4, 2024 Marketplace on Main (Photo by Town of Rocky Mountain House/Used with permission)
“Zero per cent contamination of compostable materials going to our landfills would be great, we know that’s a might reach,” says Button. “But we do feel we can target less than 25 cent of what goes in black bins should be compostable material.”
Click here to find out more about the Green Bin program.
Comments