Canada West Foundation Blog

by Larissa Sommerfeld

Local government, despite receiving the lowest portion of the overall tax pie, provides many of the services that affect our daily quality of life, such as water services and waste management. Actions on the local level represent the building blocks of change, and it’s always interesting to learn what different communities are doing for the environment and economy—two major areas the Canada West Foundation focuses on.

I was in Saanich, BC last week. While coming up the basement stairs of my friend’s home, I encountered her five year-old son.

The curious type, he wanted to know where I was going.

“I’m just heading upstairs to throw out my banana peel,” I told him.

He looked at me with wide eyes and with a hint of exasperation said, “You mean, you’re going to compost your banana peel.”

I was surprised and impressed by how environmentally mindful this little guy was.

My interest peaked, I learned from my host that in Saanich, garbage is collected only once every two weeks and that each household—whether it is a household of two or ten—can only have two bins collected at a time. To put out a maximum of two additional bins, a small fee is charged.

Garden waste, and anything that is recyclable, can’t be mixed in with regular garbage. If it is, you might be fined up to $100.00.

And as of 2012, it’ll be prohibited to put kitchen waste in your garbage anywhere in the Capital Regional District (CRD). Instead, kitchen waste will be collected and turned into compost. Kitchen waste can include meat, bones, dairy products, coffee grounds, and used paper towels—all stuff you wouldn’t want to put in your compost unless you wanted a raccoon and rodent feeding frenzy in your backyard.

Saanich’s dump is filling up—and if it keeps filling up at the current rate, the CRD will have to buy more land for a new landfill. In Metro Vancouver, the amount of waste generated per year is increasing—partly due to population growth. Right now, 3 million tonnes of waste is generated annually. In twenty years time, it’s projected to hit 4.5 million tonnes. The kitchen waste-to-compost program is a way to avoid creating new landfills. Banning organic waste from dumps free up a lot of space—in Saanich, it makes up almost one third of all waste in the landfill.

On top of freeing up space in landfills, compost programs remove a major producer of greenhouse gas. The decomposition of organic waste produces methane, which is 21 times more potent that carbon dioxide in terms of global warming. According to the Pembina Institute, “composting is the best solution for avoiding the generation of landfill gas.”

But change doesn’t come cheap. In the CRD, the cost of collecting recycling is currently about $2.7 million each year. With the introduction of compost collection, the price tag is expected to rise to $5.9-$8.6 million per year. That’s a pretty big increase. Are these costs justifiable in a time when municipalities are tightening their belts? And is it politically viable? Inevitably, either taxes or waste disposal fees will rise.

Are there are other questions to consider. What are the long-term implications (economic, social, and environmental) of adopting short-term solutions to these waste management challenges? What incentives or stimulus programs could be implemented to create change? Should the costs of landfilling be increased to the point that other options are more appealing?

And is this kind of program user friendly? Some argue that knowing what is recyclable can be confusing, and even despite best efforts, a recyclable product usually still ends up in the trash by accident, resulting in a warning or fine.

Although government initiatives may face resistance due to their large price tags, they are often necessary. Large-scale programs such as composting provide individual citizens with the tools needed (infrastructure, regulations) to make positive change. Governments should be taking the lead on these kinds of initiatives, and 34 municipalities across Canada (including Edmonton, Vancouver, and Toronto), have already taken the leap.

The bottom line: It makes sense to invest in composting. Increasing populations and dumps that are filling to capacity mean that either new landfills need to be created or the amount of waste needs to be reduced. Composting organic waste frees up space in our landfills, reduces landfill green house gas emissions, provides compost for community gardens and parks, creates local green jobs, and develops a new level of environmental consciousness in our kids and us.