The scoop on compost

West End

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/07/2024 (499 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I have been taking my compost to the Compost Winnipeg bins at the back of the Oriole Community Garden at 448 Burnell St. for a few months now and find it a very easy and convenient way to compost. The site at Lipton Community Garden (878 Lipton St.) is a slightly longer walk away.

Moldy bread, pasta, rice — even paper towel and tissue paper — are no problem, as almost all organic waste can go in their compostable-bag-lined bins. There are helpful stickers on the bins with a scannable QR code that leads to the compost guide in 10 languages.

Not everyone is familiar with Compost Winnipeg’s process, which differs from traditional composting. I was taken aback recently by a cute hand-painted sign someone had well-meaningly affixed beside the bins advising that meat and dairy don’t belong in the compost.

While it is definitely true that they wouldn’t go in a back-yard composter, because they would attract rodents and get stinky quickly, Compost Winnipeg’s large-scale industrial composting method means that meat and cheese do break down properly and are accepted.

The bins are emptied every Monday and the organic waste is taken to a section of the Prairie Green landfill where they are laid out in roughly seven foot tall and 100 foot long windrows. A layer of finished compost goes on top followed by a layer of straw and leaves.

The pile heats up to between 60 and 70 Celcius, which is twice the temperature backyard composters reach, so the composting process only takes three to four months instead of the usual one to two years. The finished compost now absorbs greenhouse gases and is used to stop trash from blowing away in other areas of the landfill instead of valuable topsoil. (Read the FAQ section at CompostWinnipeg.ca for a great explanation.)

An audit during the city’s two-year residential composting pilot project found that 44 per cent of the materials thrown out in the garbage could have been composted. Since last September, the Compost Winnipeg sites at Lipton Community Garden and Oriole Community Garden have saved 6,000 pounds of organic waste from the landfill.

Compost Winnipeg wants to know what users think of these two Daniel McIntyre sites and how they can be improved. Look for info about a two-minute survey next time you drop off your compost there. You could win one of two $50 gift cards for the Forks and you will be providing valuable input. The site at Spirit Park (200 Young St.) isn’t part of the survey, but has proven very popular with West Broadway residents since it opened recently.