It may not look like gardening season yet, but yard waste collection is back on.
The first pickup of the season is also a great opportunity for anyone who may have stockpiled leaves and garden prunings from last fall to get them into the yard waste bin and out to the curb for disposal.
Starting this Thursday (March 1) all residents receiving curbside garbage/recycling collection will benefit from yard waste pick up every two weeks until the end of November.
“This is a good time to do a post winter check-up of your cart, and make sure 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, anything that would compromise the composting process,” said waste reduction facilitator Rae Stewart.
Stewart says all the yard waste collected curbside is then composted and used again 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 over 14,000 tonnes of yard waste at the curb and turned it into high quality compost instead of it being buried at the landfill.
You’re reminded to put your yard waste out for collection by 7 am 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
Up to two 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 the game web site or or download the MyWaste app. This free app gives you collection schedule info and a “What goes where” search feature in the palm of your hand.
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