Preparing your food and yard waste
Preparing your food scraps and yard waste the right way for your green cart will ensure it can be collected safely and turned into nutrient-rich compost.
Collecting food waste in the kitchen
Tips for preventing odours and pests
From time to time, you may encounter some odours or pests while storing your food scraps. Follow these tips to prevent these issues from occurring.
Preventing odours
- Wrap meat scraps and bones in paper towel or old newspaper before putting them into your kitchen pail.
- Freeze meat and fish waste until collection day, especially during warm weather.
- Sprinkle a small amount of baking soda in your kitchen pail and green cart.
- Store your kitchen pail in the fridge or freezer.
- Rinse your kitchen pail occasionally with hot water or place inside your dishwasher to clean.
Preventing fruit flies and pests
- Trap fruit flies by placing a small amount of cider vinegar covered with plastic wrap with several small holes in it.
- Keep ripened fruit or vegetables in the fridge. Clean your sink drains and washcloths often.
- To prevent maggots in your outdoor green cart, use compostable bags or paper bags. This keeps houseflies from landing on food waste and laying eggs. If maggots do appear, sprinkle salt, white vinegar or garden lime on them.
- During warm weather, store your green cart in your garage or another shaded spot.
- Rinse your cart with a hose and pour the water on the grass/gravel. Don't pour dirty water down the storm drain.
Collecting yard waste
Why weren't my yard waste bags picked up?
During busier periods, we will collect material inside the cart, but may limit the number of extra bags we pick up to make sure everyone gets service. If some of your extra bags are not picked up, store them on your property until the next green cart collection.
Prevent material from sticking inside the cart
Wet materials can stick to the inside of the cart making it difficult to come out during pickup. In the winter, this can also lead to material freezing inside the cart. Follow these tips to prevent material from sticking inside the cart.
Prevent sticking and freezing to the cart
- Crumple up flyer sheets into balls and put them in the bottom of your green cart before putting in any food or yard waste. You can also use newspaper, paper bags, or soiled pizza boxes.
- Layer wet material (food scraps, grass clippings) with dry material (leaves, newspaper).
- If grass clippings are sticking to your cart, use a paper yard waste bag instead.
- Wrap food with high moisture content in soiled boxes, flyers, or newspapers.
- Freeze your food scraps in your freezer before putting it out in your green cart.
Cleaning out stuck materials
- Use the end of a broomstick to stir and loosen up the material in the bottom of the cart before pickup day.
- If the material is frozen inside, wait for warmer temperatures to thaw the material out. Place your cart in sunlight to thaw quicker.
- Put material into your cart closer to pickup day so it spends less time outside.
- If possible, give your cart a shake prior to rolling it out to dislodge any frozen contents.
Special preparation items
These compostable items must be bagged in a tied-up certified compostable bag or rolled up paper bag before putting them in your green cart. This helps prevent dust and keeps your collector safe.
Other composting tips
Don’t jam materials inside the bin, or they won’t fall out during pickup.
Put carts out only on pickup day; otherwise, keep them on your property or against the fence.
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