The Benefits of Organic Waste

You have probably seen me tweeting, blogging and posting about the Region of Peel’s bi-weekly waste collection program and cart selection for a few months now. Maybe you have heard and seen many other reminders that March 31st is the last day to select the size of the garbage and recycling carts.

Why all this fuss about garbage lately?

One of the benefits of moving to a bi-weekly collection program is encouraging a shift in the way we sort the waste we produce. Let’s be honest… some of us aren’t using our green bins to their full potential, choosing instead for the convenience of tossing our kitchen compost (organics) in with the garbage. The price tag in so doing comes in a variety of ways – financial, environmental, health, and so forth. If you look at your household waste, you can easily categorize it into organic (waste that can be composted), recyclables (plastic, aluminium etc), and garbage ( material that can’t be recycled or composted).  There are over 10,000 landfills in Canada that receive waste out of which at least 30-60% is organic and compostable. This biodegradable or organic waste mostly comes from our kitchens or garden scrap or paper, cardboard & timber.

The government has been promoting “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle” quite actively for many years and finally, here in Peel, we are being offered a program where we can make a conscious effort to sort out the garbage we produce. By putting the organic waste into the green bins, the recyclables into the blue bins and the rest into the grey bins, we can dramatically reduce the volume of garbage we are sending to landfill.

This also means that the size of carts we need may have to be re-assessed (think smaller garbage cart). Read more about this program in my previous blogs or on Ward 10 Website: http://www.mississaugaward10.ca/

Remember, we all have a responsibility to fulfill towards a more sustainable and healthy future. Let’s participate actively and intelligently.