2011_05_compost

Compost depot at Steinbach Junior High School

The City of Steinbach is reassessing its community compost program.

It tried something new this year by having depots at Woodlawn School and Steinbach Junior High every Saturday from May 14th to October 8th where people could bring grass clippings and other compostable material.

Spokesperson Amber Reitsma says, "We had mixed results and largely that was just because of our summer weather. We had a beautiful summer. I don't think anyone would complain too much about the nice dry, sunny weather. But unfortunately that led to a lot less grass mowing, or maybe fortunately, depending how you look at it, but that meant a lot less grass clippings and green material for the compost depots." About 35 tonnes of material was collected at the depots whereas the city had hoped to take in over 100 tonnes.

Reitsma is not sure whether this program will continue next year. She says, "I know that we definitely want to offer something in the way of composting again next year, whether that will be another (composting) bin sale or the compost depots again" remains to be seen.

Reitsma says while they collected a lot less material than expected, the depots were a success in that about half of the people who used them said they had never previously participated in composting.

The city takes the material to the landfill site where it is composted all winter long and turned into nutrient rich soil that is used in city parks and is also made available to residents.