Edmonton Composts: Celebrating Compost Awareness Week May 5-12, 2013

Celebrate by telling someone how much you love composting or by helping them start composting! Composting is simple and has many benefits to you, your city, and your yard. 

Visit the Compost Demonstration Site at John Janzen Nature Centre to check out your options. There are many approaches to composting so find one that works with your lifestyle.  

You can compost indoors with Red Wriggler Worms like MCR Duncan K.

Once you have a compost, find a container for your kitchen scraps.

Keep a balance of green, browns, water, and air in your compost bin.

Compost bins like this one being harvested by MCRs Sarah F and Genia R can be purchased for $35 after taking a workshop.

Use compost to add nutrients to your lawn.

Which lawn do you think was treated with compost?

Add compost to your potted plants as fertilizer. 

Use compost in your garden, it will help the soil hold moisture and reduce compaction. Composting can be a fun and active activity to do with the family. 

Get creative with your compost! 

For Compost Awareness Week, The City of Edmonton is hosting 4 workshops at the John Janzen Nature Centre:

• Tuesday, May 7 from 7-9pm
• Wednesday, May 8 from 7-9pm
• Thursday, May 9 from 7-9pm
• Saturday, May 11 from 2-4pm

Classes are only $10 and you can purchase a composter for $35 after taking the workshop. Take a workshop to get started: register for a workshop

Other resources:

edmonton.ca/compost
Backyard Composting Booklet 
Work Composting Booklet
Compost Bins You Can Build Booklet

6 Pack Holders: Recyclable or Not?

Let's use the 4Rs to talk about 6 Pack Holders. 

6 pack holder: recyclable or not?

 Reduce
Avoid 6 pack holders entirely by buying in bulk!

Reuse
Donate them to The Reuse Centre or make a craft yourself. Check out the full list of items accepted at the Reuse Centre.

Sarah, a staff member at the Reuse Centre shows off  a recent donation. 

Recycle? 
No, they do not belong in your Blue Bag or Blue Bin in Edmonton. Put them in the garbage, they will travel to the Edmonton Waste Management Centre and then to the landfill in Ryley, AB.

Recover
Starting in 2015 - when you put them in your garbage they will be turned into Biofuels along with other carbon based waste.

Useful Links: 
Living Green in a Colourful World Blog: snowfake craft instructions
edmonton.ca/reusecentre
edmontonbiofuels.ca

Coffee Pods: Are They Recyclable?

Don't feel like reading? Watch this special edition of CBC Marketplace. The segment starts at 3:57.

The short answer: Coffee pods are not recyclable in Edmonton. They are too small to sort in the Materials Recovery Facility and also contain many different materials all stuck together. So they belong in the garbage.

The long answer: Some people really want them to be recyclable so they take them all apart at home so let's break it down piece by piece.

Coffee grounds - compostable!

• Compost at home, or if you put in your household garbage - in Edmonton - it will be sorted out and composted.

Composting Facility at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre (EWMC)

Paper filter - compostable

• Compost at home, or put it in your household garbage and - in Edmonton - it will be sorted out and composted.

• If you put it in your Blue Bag then it will go to the Materials Recovery Facility for sorting: Paper needs to be bigger than your palm to be sorted at the recycling sorting facility. If it's smaller than your palm, it will likely reach the end of the sorting line as "residuals" or "leftovers" which are landfilled. It may also cause some problems at the plant because small pieces of paper can jam up the machines.

Small (no number) plastic containers - garbage

• If you put them in your Blue Bag, then it will go to the Materials Recovery Facility for sorting. The machines there aren't capable of sorting items that are this small, and the workers on the line are focusing on other items (e.g. pulling plastic bags off the line for recycling).

Materials Recovery Facility at the EWMC

Better ways to deal with them

Unless you find a creative way to reuse these coffee pods, they will end up in the landfill... right now. Edmonton has decided to deal with plastic like this with the Waste-to-Biofuels Project. When the Waste-to-Biofuels Facility is up and running in 2015, the chemicals in these plastics will be recovered into methanol and ethanol. edmontonbiofuels.ca

Our office also has a coffee machine that has small disposable items with each cup. In order to reduce waste, a few of us around the office just bought a coffee press instead. We still get to enjoy a delicious brew without the waste!

Learn more
Find information on composting at home, the EWMC, recycling, Waste-to-Biofules and much more at edmonton.ca/waste.
If you have a suggestion for a questionable item please let us know at mcrp@edmonton.ca!

Eco Stations - keeping hazardous waste and electronics out of landfills

On Friday, March 15, Edmonton's Eco Stations celebrated our 2 millionth customer.
Thank you for keeping 16,093,483 litres of household hazardous waste out of the landfill!

How did we celebrate? 

Watch: Councillor Don Iveson congratulates the 2 millionth customer

Councillor Don Iverson  presents Gilda Valli with her gift

The festivities haven't stopped.
Eco Stations will give away 2 million carrot seeds this year!

Garry, Gilda, and Don show off their carrot seeds

Garry showing 2 million carrot seeds, representing
the 2 millionth customer to Eco Stations

What happens to things you bring to the Eco Station?

Reused 

usable paint à segregated, stored for Paint Exchange

items in good condition à Reuse Area at Ambleside Eco Station

Recycled 

glycol (antifreeze) à reconditioned into new antifreeze

fluorescent tubes à crushed using a bulb crusher and processed at Custom Environmental facilities

PCB lamp ballasts à reclaimable components are recycled, the rest sent for incineration

dry-cell batteries à sent to Toxco and recycled
wet-cell batteries (e.g. car & truck batteries)

plastic casing à recycled into new battery casings

lead cores à recycled into new lead cores

battery acid à used to produce expanded polystyrene

rechargeable batteries à recycled

motor oil/oil filters à recycled by oil recycler

scrap metal (includes empty paint cans) à recycled by local scrap metal dealer

white goods (e.g. freezers, fridges, coolers) à hazardous components removed; remainder recycled

aerosol cans (partially full) à contents evacuated & recycled/disposed, canisters are recycled

propane/butane cylinders à contents evacuated & recycled/disposed, canisters are recycled

Composted

yard waste à sent to IPTF and composted. 

Safely Disposed 

unusable paint à sent to Alberta Special Waste Management Treatment Centre (Swan Hills)

large/bulky items in poor condition àsent to IPTF and landfilled

non-recyclable HHW & prescription medication à sent to Alberta Special Waste Management Treatment Centre (Swan Hills)

Eco Station attendant holds a phone which will
be sent to GEEP for electronic recycling

My Favourite Things About Eco Stations

• They keep household hazardous waste out of our garbage. That's especially important since organic waste is separated from garbage and composted.
• They make it possible to recycle electronics, batteries, motor oil, unusable paint, scrap metal, freezers, fridges, propane and butane cylinders, fluorescent tubes, and more! 
• Free stuff! You can find free paint at all Eco Stations. It's salvaged from usable paint dropped off by residents. The Reuse Area at Ambleside Eco Station saves household items in good condition from landfill. 

History in a Nutshell

• Eco Stations have been accepting Edmonton's computers, batteries, paint cans, couches, and much more from residents since 1995. 
• Strathcona and Coronation Eco Stations are converted spaces. They were originally used as transfer stations (where waste was taken, sorted, and moved again). 
• Ambleside was the first purpose-built Eco Station. Lessons learned from the existing facilities helped in the design of a super Eco Station. It boasts a Reuse Area, lots of room to drop-off, natural light, and beautiful art. 
• Planning is under way for a fourth Eco Station, to serve communities in Northeast Edmonton. 

For More Info

edmonton.ca/ecostations
Edmonton This Week (radio interview)

Valentine's Day Contest: Share to Win

 

Valentine's Day, like many holidays, can be an event surrounded with over-consumption. As waste-aware Edmontonians, Master Composter Recyclers have great ideas to keep waste at a minimum while still making the holiday a special time.

Looking for inspiration? Check out Kristin's interview with the Weather Network. 

What are you doing to reduce your waste around this holiday? Submit your ideas to win a romantic dinner for two!

One MCR helped their Office Ecology Team organize a freecycle table to re-gift items for Valentine's Day. 

How do you reduce waste when you romance your Valentine?

To enter the contest:

• post a comment on this blog (below)
• post your suggestion on the MCR facebook group
• email mcrp@edmonton.ca
• call Rodney (780-496-5991) or Laura (780-496-5051)

What's the prize?
Win a $100 gift certificate for Live Local. You can this as a romantic dinner for two at:
          Accent Restaurant & Lounge
          Blue Plate Diner
          The Dish Bistro
          Sabor Divino Restaurant
          Upper Crust Cafe
          Wild Tangerine
Note:
This contest is only open to volunteers who are graduates of the Master Composter Recycler Program. Thank you for showing Edmontonians creative ways to reduce waste.