The District of Muskoka’s green bin collection program began as an effort to divert compostable waste from landfills. But while it services the urban areas in the region, residents in rural areas can only participate in the program by dropping off their organic waste at specified locations—in Huntsville that’s at the Stisted Transfer Station—or they can compost on their own.
The concern is the people who do neither, or who have access to the program but don’t participate. Organic matter isn’t good for landfills, explained Fred Jahn, the District’s Commissioner of Engineering and Public Works when he and Quinn Michell, the department’s Public Awareness Representative, made a presentation to Huntsville’s General Committee on July 25. “Most people don’t realize that one-third of the waste stream is kitchen organics,” said Jahn, and when it ends up in landfills “it generates greenhouse gases and it causes toxic leachate which is something we have to deal with.”
Their visit was prompted by a request from Councillor Dan Armour who said that residents on Westpoint Sands Road have asked to have the program expanded to include them. Michell said that the District has received other informal requests about expanding the program as well, adding that they’d like to work with the Town and residents to identify potential options for program expansion “and come up with a decision that works for everybody and we can maximize the program for efficiency and for the trucks on the road.”
District staff estimate that the green bin participation rate in Muskoka is 50 to 60 per cent, although some of the residents not participating in the program may be doing their own composting. The District has been exploring various recommendations to encourage participation, including lowering the limit for the number of garbage bags each household is allowed per week and mandatory recycling, but Michell said that education is paramount. “It’s really a routine issue at home. There’s really nothing different than putting your food waste in a different bin—it’s just educating about the importance and where your food waste is going.”
The food waste picked up at curbside—usually by a dedicated truck although some routes have trucks that have compartments for both garbage and food waste where it’s efficient to use them—is processed in Gravenhurst and then mixed with leaf and yard waste. When the compost is ready, it is given to residents free of charge on designated days in the spring. In 2017, the District picked up about 800 tons of organic waste, said Michell.
Councillor Jonathan Wiebe said he’d like to see part of any education campaign focused on backyard composting and Councillor Det Schumcher added that some people practice vermiculture, a method of composting that uses worms to decompose organic matter.
Mayor Scott Aitchison agreed with Wiebe, and didn’t mince words. “I’d be absolutely opposed to having a big diesel truck driving all around when people should be ashamed of themselves for not composting on their own property. It’s ridiculous,” he said, adding that he’s an amateur composter who could stand to learn more about it. “Perhaps that is really the answer to this challenge, is for us to do a massive campaign on how we can manage our own waste better…and differently and work together with the municipalities for that kind of program. That’s what I’d be interested in here.”
Michell said that one of the areas the District concentrates on is barriers to participation, and that they look for ways to support what people want. The District does have a backyard compost rebate program to encourage backyard composting, she said, but that some people are hesitant to compost in rural areas because they don’t want to attract wildlife, in particular bears, and others either don’t want to participate or don’t know how. “It’s not something you can just throw in the backyard, you’ve got to mix it up and talk to it nice,” she said. “I think that we need to understand the barriers as to why people aren’t participating, give them options and alternatives.”
Jahn said that he believes one of the reasons people don’t participate is Muskoka’s generous weekly bag limit which is “not much of an incentive to do something different.”
That prompted further comment from Mayor Aitchison. “The whole concept of landfilling is completely backwards in my thinking. All we do really is preserve the garbage forever by putting it in a landfill,” he said, and added that he’d like to see other methods of waste management explored, like waste-to-energy plants. “I also recognize that we probably don’t produce enough waste to make such a facility operate efficiently, but has staff ever explored discussing this concept with neighboring municipalities or other areas to see if there is a more efficient way, a more effective way of dealing with waste as opposed to burying it?”
Jahn said that staff have looked at options, but “unless we are operating on a large scale, the economics just aren’t there….I think the province is ultimately going to move to regional facilities that everybody trucks their waste to and probably the technology will evolve. Having said all that, there’s nothing wrong with a landfill—it might seem like an odd concept but it can be very economical, it can be environmentally okay if it’s properly managed.”
For more information on the green bin collection program and a list of acceptable materials that can be put in your green bin, visit muskokarecycles.ca.
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My Daughter and I have just been given our green bins, but it didn’t come with any instructions and I have been told there should have been an envelope in it telling us where to pick up the small bucket for in the home.
We live @ 468 Muskoka Rd 3 N Units, 2 & 4
Thank you
Debbie Demers
I don’t think the garbage pickup we currently have is “overly generous”. I pay my taxes and I certainly don’t want to see a reduction in services. I don’t like the idea of burying garbage either. I don’t know why we aren’t trucking garbage to an incinerator.
In Waterloo we did backyard composting for years before the city brought in curbside pickup. We moved here three years ago and were disappointed not to be able to compost because of the danger of attracting wildlife. We tried worms, unsuccessfully. We would be happy even to have more convenient drop off places.
I would imagine 80% of our garbage is compostible but in the woods where it is cool or frozen not a lot happens in a composter. It already attracts bears. Add meat, bones and all food scraps… well, we would really like to but. We would love to be shown a way to make organic composting happen at home in the woods.
I am one of the rural people. I use a composter and don’t have problems with animals because I put in toilet composter powder that kills the smell. I just wish the district would provide us with a good composter container like they provide a green bin to urban dwellers.