It may not look like gardening season yet, but yard waste collection is back on.
Starting Friday, March 1 all residents receiving curbside garbage/recycling collection will also benefit from yard waste pick up every two weeks until the end of December.
“This is a good time to do a post winter check-up of your cart, and make sure any materials that don’t belong and may have landed in there by mistake over the winter months are removed – things like flower pots, garbage, bags of any kind, pet waste, recycling, anything that would compromise the composting process,” said Rae Stewart, waste reduction facilitator.
Stewart says all the yard waste collected curbside is then composted and given new life as a valuable soil enhancer—so it’s important to keep it free of any plastic, garbage or other matter that could contaminate the end product. Last year alone the program collected just under 15,000 tonnes of yard waste at the curb and turned it into high quality compost instead of it being buried at the landfill.
New to the program this year, yard waste collection will be extended for an additional month, with pick-up until the end of December.
RELATED: ‘There is no market for it,’ Kelowna apartment recycling takes a hit
“Residents have been asking for extended yard waste service for many years now, especially in the fall where yard clean up can take time and effort to complete,” said Stewart.
“Dependent on the year and the weather, often those leaves don’t fall until very late in the season, so this will allow for a longer window to get your yard taken care of before winter.”
Put yard waste out for collection by 7 a.m. on the morning of your regular garbage day. The following items are accepted in your yard waste cart:
- · Leaves, needles
- · Branches, prunings – up to 5 centimetres (2 inches) in diameter and less than one metre (3 feet) in length
- · Wood chips, bark
- · Garden plants
- · Fruit droppings
- · Grass clippings
- · No rocks, sod or soil
RELATED: Kelowna regional district looking at plan for food waste
Additional 360 litre yard waste carts can be purchased from your municipality. For additional yard waste carts and collection options, contact your municipality or follow the yard waste link at regionaldistrict.com/recycle.
To determine your yard waste collection week, please refer to the Living Greener Calendar at regionaldistrict.com/recycle, or download the MyWaste app at regionaldistrict.com/mywasteapp. This free app gives you collection schedule info and a “What goes where” search feature in the palm of your hand.
To report a typo, email:newstips@kelownacapnews.com.
@KelownaCapNewsnewstips@kelownacapnews.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
