SASKATOON – City Water and Waste Operations Director Brendan Lemke announced they would continue their education campaign for the Saskatoon-wide green cart program to inform the public of its benefits.
The city started distributing the green carts earlier this month, with residents living in row houses or townhomes receiving smaller bins due to limited space and less yard waste.
The green carts come with a small pail and one roll of Biodegradable Products Institute-certified compostable bags.
“We are trying to ensure that the smaller size is right. We do have a plan in the future to review what we receive in the carts…We do plan to do waste audits that way," said Lemke.
The BPI-certified bags are accepted in the city-wide compost program, which aims to reduce nearly 60 per cent of compostable waste thrown in black bins and lessen the cost of maintaining a landfill.
“This is not done individually but as a community. We need to do this together,” said Lemke.
The pail includes flyers that guide residents on what compostable waste they can put in the green cart, such as food leftovers, dairy products, cooking oil, fruits and vegetables, bread, baked goods, noodles, and other grains, eggs and eggshells.
The green cart also accepts coffee grounds, filters, tea bags, soiled paper products, and unbagged yard wastes.
Pet waste and bags, diapers and hygiene products, plastic and packaging, Styrofoam, elmwood, glass, and metal packaging are not allowed in the green carts. Some of the listed items go in the black carts for the landfill.
Lemke encouraged residents to download the Waste Wizard app, where users are notified of the collection schedules for compost, recyclables, and waste. More than 24,000 residents have downloaded the app since March of this year.
Lemke reminded residents to bring the green carts delivered in front of their houses inside their property to avoid enforcement of warnings and fines for leaving black or blue carts on the street.
The collection of green carts will begin in May and will continue year-round, with all waste on the list being transported to an indoor compost processing plant.
Residents are also advised to use a newspaper as a liner inside the kitchen pail to reduce moisture when putting in food waste.
Once emptied, the kitchen pail should be rinsed frequently, and the green cart lid should remain closed to prevent foul odour and pests.
