Glenwood compost project will soon wind up

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/07/2022 (1408 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The sun is setting on Glenwood Community Compost project, but a new day of waste diversion and responsible climate action beckons.

Six years ago, as a new resident of the Glenwood neighbourhood, on Guay Avenue, I started a project called St. Vital Community Compost. Its genesis of the project was the political failure in 2015 of a proposed curbside organics pickup program in the City of Winnipeg. We remain the last major Canadian city without a program to divert organic waste from landfills to a central composting facility.

Why is this important? When organic material gets buried in a traditional landfill, it undergoes a process called ‘anaerobic decomposition’; in short: it gets no oxygen. Since it can’t breathe, different bacteria break it down than those found in the open air or in a properly managed compost pile. This releases methane, which is not only a big part of what makes landfills stink, but is also a greenhouse gas that is 10 times or more powerful as carbon dioxide.

Climate change was top of mind for many back in 2015 but the issue has never been more urgent as it is today. With extreme weather increasingly becoming the norm at home and around the globe, the threat to our future grow.

I began the compost project hoping to draw attention to the importance of organic waste diversion, and to do my small part by helping some of my neighbours who don’t compost at home to divert their personal waste.

This project has been enjoyable and pleasant, even as the urgency of dramatic action on climate change grew year after year.

The City of Winnipeg began a two-year residential food waste collection pilot project in October 2020 in five neighbourhoods, including the St. George area right here in St. Vital. I am hopeful and optimistic it will soon become the basis of a citywide program.

In this regard, I wish to sincerely express my gratitude to our councillor here in St Vital, Brian Mayes. As chair of the water and waste committee of council, he has played an important role in shepherding this project forward. He also provided me with a small $50 grant at the very start of my project for the purchase of our first compost bin.

One final donated bin has been added and will be available for users until the end of the year. In the fall, the remaining compost will be given away to community members to spread on their garden beds over winter to begin growing again, investing in the future, which is what this has, ultimately, been all about.