Separating food scraps from household garbage helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and saves money, says Debbie Fleming of Langley Township’s Engineering Division.
Fleming says food scraps account for 40 per cent of our garbage and if taken to the landfill and left to decompose, they create harmful greenhouse gasses and cost the municipality in disposal fees.
“By taking just a few minutes to separate our food scraps, we can help our environment and save money,” Fleming says.
That’s the goal of Green Can, a Township of Langley initiative that encourages residents to keep food scraps and other compostable items out of the landfill by separating them from their garbage.
By collecting unwanted food scraps – including meat, bones, dairy products, fish, bread, and soiled paper – in a small kitchen container then placing them in a curbside collection bin, residents can keep thousands of tonnes of material out of the garbage each year.
Walnut Grove resident Melissa Brown, a nurse and mother of three, says the Green Can program allows her family to dispose of other food scraps that she could not put in her backyard composter, such as cooked food, dairy solids, meat and bones.
“It’s been great,” Brown says.
“There is so much less waste going into garbage. The garbage doesn’t smell at all and we have to clean it out less.”
The key, Brown says, is to keep the small food waste containers handy by the kitchen sink.
She and her husband have one designated for the backyard compost, the other for Green Can.
Lining the containers with newspaper or using a paper food waste bag prevents mess and odour, makes it easier to transfer waste to the outdoor Green Can, and is easier to clean out, she says.
For Langley’s Leona Dyck, whose husband is over 70 years old, using the Green Can took a little more getting used to.
“He is old school,” she laughs.
“Our neighbours were doing it but they are of a younger generation and quicker to change. For us it took a while, but since I’ve convinced my husband, he has been gung ho for it.”
Now the family keeps a bowl on the counter that they fill with food waste and empty it into the Green Can once a day.
Lawn clippings and yard waste go in as well, along with shredded documents, which the Dycks place at the bottom of the can to absorb any moisture.
“It’s nice and clean and you don’t have to spend any money,” said Leona. “We’re totally on board. It’s our tax dollars doing some good.”
The Green Can program is available to single-family households that receive municipal garbage pick-up from the Township of Langley.
Residents can purchase a 77 or 80 litre can, or use their old Yard Trimmings can.
Collected food scraps, along with yard waste, are then placed in the can, which should be no heavier than 44 pounds.
The cans must be marked with a Green Can sticker, which can be picked up at any Township recreation centre, the Civic Facility, or Operations Centre, and placed on the curb with the decal facing the street.
The cans are picked up on regular garbage and recycling collection days, and there is no limit to the number of Green Cans that can be set out.
Visit tol.ca/greencan for more information about what can go in your Green Can.
