FallFallFallFall 2012201220122012

THE NEWSLE�ER OF THE GREATER VICTORIA COMPOST EDUCATION CENTRE

THE LATEST DIRTTHE LATEST DIRTTHE LATEST DIRTTHE LATEST DIRT

Compost at the Curbside What does it mean for me? - by Marika Smith

For more information about commercial composting systems, please contact Marika at the Greater Victoria

Compost Education Centre or contact your municipality to enquire about future composting pick-up plans

or visit the CRD’s compost page at http://www.crd.bc.ca/waste/organics/index.htm.

In Canada, food scraps and yard waste make up close to 40% of the waste stream. Most people are aware that organics do not decompose naturally in our airless, engineered landfills and instead produce harmful greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon dioxide. There are many options to divert organic matter from the landfill and recycle this nutrient-rich resource, and on-site small-scale composting remains the most ecological and economic solution. Simply by composting, a typical household can divert more than 500 pounds of organic waste each year from the landfill, while creating a rich, organic soil amendment for home gardens! As more information about municipal curbside composting pick-up programs are highlighted in local media, we thought we’d shed some light on these proposed initiatives.

Composting pick-up programs in the Capital Regional District (CRD) The Townships of View Royal and Oak Bay have had residential curbside pick-up of organic waste since 2008. These two municipalities participated in the CRD’s original compost pick-up pilot program in 2006-2008 and chose to continue the program independently. To date, the waste collected has mostly been processed at an in-vessel composting facility in Cobble Hill. In April 2012, the Municipality of Saanich

launched a curbside kitchen scrap collection pilot project with 583 households, and the City of Victoria will be launching its own kitchen scrap collection program in January 2013, opting to go straight into a full pick-up program using spilt-hauler trucks that have one side for dry recyclable material and one side for wet organic material. Pick-up schedules and material accepted will be unique to each municipality. In order to reach their goal of a 70% waste diversion rate by 2015, the CRD has implemented a region-wide kitchen scraps strategy starting in 2013. A simple action plan will consist of financial incentives for source-separated kitchen scraps loads delivered by waste haulers to a CRD-approved composting facility in 2013 and 2014; monetary fines on garbage loads containing kitchen scraps at Hartland in 2014; and a complete ban of kitchen scraps from disposal at Hartland Landfill starting January 1st, 2015. The CRD recently awarded the processing con-tract to Vantreight Farms in Central Saanich who will be responsible for receiving and processing the collected material from all four partici-pating municipalities starting in February 2013.

Understanding Large-scale Composting Systems There are many types of commercial and industrial composting systems, too many to list here, but these are a few of the most commonly used systems in Canada:

In-Vessel Composting Systems: In-vessel composting is simply an industrial form of composting organic waste. These range from large Covered Aerated Static Pile (CASP) systems, a higher tech version of old-fashioned windrows used on farms, to a completely en-closed, bio-filtered and aerated, agitated bed composting system, the nearest example of this being Foundation Organic’s composting facility in Central Saanich.

Anaerobic Digesters (AD): This is a widely used yet expen-

sive system in Europe, specifically in Germany where there are over

800 in operation. Not to be confused with an aerobic backyard food

waste household digester such as the Green Cone, these AD systems quickly process large volumes of food, yard and agricultural waste us-

ing anaerobic decomposition in airless digestion chambers. The methane and carbon dioxide gases are collected to produce renewable elec-

tricity, or further processed into compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel. After two weeks in the digestion system the partially degraded material

is aerobically composted using a CASP system. There are currently three AD facilities in Canada, the nearest one is run by Harvest Power in

Richmond BC. (continued on page 3)

Large in-vessel municipal system in Moose Creek, Ontario

Staff

Nadine Collison

Marika Smith

Clare Pepper

Shannon Millar

Anne Spice

Sonya Rokosh

Contact us at

1216 North Park Street

(at Chambers)

Victoria BC V8T 1C9

Hours of Opera�on

Wed. - Fri. 10am to 6pm

Sat. 10 am to 4pm

Closed on statutory holidays,

long weekends,

and mid-December

to mid-January

Phone: 386-WORM(9676)

Fax: 386-9678

E-mail: info@compost.bc.ca

Website: www.compost.bc.ca

Board of Directors

Janet Hockin

David Neate

Amanda Broad

Wendy Dunn

Bill McKechnie

Marion Wylie

Nik Hill

Contributors to this issue of

THE LATEST DIRT

Nadine Collison

Shannon Millar

Marika Smith

The Fraser Basin Council

Newsle/er Forma0ng

Nadine Collison

We gratefully acknowledge the

core funding support that we re-

ceive from the CRD and the City of

Victoria. Addi7onal support is pro-

vided through the generosity of our

Compost Club Members and the

residents of Greater Victoria.

Thank you for your donations to the Angela Evans Legacy Fund

In memory of Angela Evans

C. Argue R. Brooke D. Carlsen J. Chani J. Chess

L. Cordell J. Cullington J. Dunster J. Farquharson E. Henry

E. Higgs J. Hill M. Hornell S. Kell S. Laroye

M. LeBourdais J. Lommerse P. Mason J. Nichols P. Ostergaard

K. Platt J. Pratt R. Rasha J. Roberts Anonymous

H. Schmidt L. Smith S. Wallin Murdoch de Greeff Inc.

It is with great sadness and regret that we announce the passing of Angela Evans, who left her friends and family peacefully at Victoria Hospice on March 10, 2012 after a long struggle with cancer. Angela was a long-time supporter of the Greater Victoria Compost Education Centre; having volun-teered with us for many years, been a speaker at an Annual Gen-eral Meeting one year, and having drawn this gorgeous picture of the Strawbale Building we still use to-day to give to board members and others as a gift of thanks! She had a diverse career as a community and environmental planner in Ontario, the UK and BC, including with the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Gloucestershire Wildlife Management Ltd., City of Burnaby, AWA/Spaxman, District of Sechelt and District of Saanich, and as the principal of Local Solutions Consulting Services. Angela was deeply interested in green community design and building technologies, vol-unteering at a desert research station in southern Spain, the Centre for Alternative Tech-nology in Wales, and the GVCEC, among other places. The Fraser Basin Council is inviting colleagues and friends to contribute to an Angela Evans Legacy Fund that will support programming and education at the GVCEC. This fund will honour Angela’s passion and dedication to green communities by enabling more people to learn how to grow food and compost in their community.

In appreciation of these donations, the Centre will build a permanent pergola onsite with a plant-entwined arbour and an artistically rendered plaque to thank donors for the fund and honour Angela’s legacy. The pergola will have a bench to provide a nice place of respite for visitors, volunteers, and staff to read a book, drink a cup of tea and remember Angela.

If you would like to contribute to the Angela Evans Legacy Fund you can donate online at CanadaHelps.org or you can write a cheque to the Greater Victoria Compost Education Centre with Angela Evan Legacy Fund listed on the cheque.

Donations will remain open until October 31st, 2012.

An original drawing by Angela Evans of our Straw-

bale Building

What will you do with your Glass Bead?

Grow A Row 2012! Grow a Row is an innovative program that encourages gar-deners and farmers to grow an extra row of produce in their home garden or farm, which is then donated to local food banks and community centers. In return, participants get low cost workshops, free seeds and advice.

The Grow A Row program here in Victoria goes beyond just putting food on the table for those in need. It directly address-es food justice issues in the community by breaking down barriers that marginalized members face when trying to gain access to fresh, healthy food. During the 2010-11 fiscal year, one of our main donation sites, Our Place, was able to re-duce their meal costs by 20% by incorporating fresh produce donations. As Gail Snider, Operations Manager for Our Place, points out, “The improved nutrition for folks whose health is already compromised is likely the most important long term benefit of our participation in this program.”

Thanks to our amazing participants, we have so far collected over 470 kgs of fresh produce for food banks and communi-ty kitchen programs. Help us create a healthier, happier com-munity by growing a row for those in need!

To see a full listing of our drop-off locations or for more information, please visit our website at vicgrowarow.org or contact us at vicgrowarow@gmail.com.

(...continued from page 1)

Mid-scale on-site electric composters: These small in-vessel systems are suitable for community level composting for rural municipalities, schools, hospitals and multi-family dwellings who wish to process larger quantities of food and yard waste while keep-ing the resource on site. Green Mountain Technologies in Washington manufacture two units, the Earth Tub and the Earth Flow. Both units use a small amount of electricity and an auger wheel to mix and aer-ate the compost and can process between 25lbs to 1.5 tonnes of food and yard waste per day. Green Good Composters produce a range of electric composters for household and commercial use which have been widely used by restaurants. Alt-hough the initial price tag for these systems is high ($10,000-$100,000), research has shown that there is long-term waste management savings when using an on-site composting system as opposed to continuous pick-up and processing costs. Sources: CRD www.crd.bc.ca, Compost Council of Canada http://www.compost.org/, Transform Compost Systems http://www.transformcompostsystems.com/, Harvest Power http://www.harvestpower.com/ Green Mountain Technologies http://www.compostingtechnology.com/ Green Good Composters http://www.greengoodcomposter.com/

The Earth Tub, an example of a mid-size on-site electric composter

With grown kids, Cindy Dreger and Deanna Danychuk were seeking a new way to make a difference. Is it possible to save the planet AND make a living while doing it? Hence, Ingredients was born! For those of you who don't know, Ingredients is a new whole-foods grocery store and café on Store St. in downtown Victoria. Cindy Dreger, co-owner, says, “We wanted to create a unique shopping experience for people with healthy wholefoods that reduce packaging,” which explains the organic almond milk they make on-site and the over 450 organic items in the bulk food section (bring your own contain-er!). Ingredients also has a wonderful café which serves delicious daily organic creations such as Mexi quinoa burgers, vanilla orange cupcakes, and chickpea curry on brown rice. Dreger continues “I find it hard to find places to eat sometimes, so I wanted to cre-ate a café with all the elements that are important to me: vegetarian, organic, wholefoods that are yummy and made from scratch”. As part of their plan to make a difference, they also launched a 2% for the Planet pro-gram - similar to the popular 1% for the Planet, where businesses donate a percentage of their profits to environmental organizations. Dreger explains; “this is our way of giving back to eco-conscious organizations that are doing important work but are less commercialized than the bigger charities.” This is why the Greater Victoria Compost Education Centre has been chosen for the next round of donations. Dreger continues ,“the Compost Ed Centre is everything we look for in a charity -- you are local, pro-mote organic food and growing, help preserve land and soil , and educate children.” We are thrilled that Ingredients has chosen to support what we do with this innovative program!

How does it work? Easy! For every $20 you spend at Ingredients you will be given a glass bead signifying a forty cent donation (2% of $20) . There will be two jars representing two local charities and one jar will be ours for the next 6 months starting October 1st. So head down to Ingredients with some containers to fill-up, buy some healthy local foods to add to those grown from your garden, enjoy whatever fresh creation the café has that day, and help support the GVCEC and put your glass bead in our jar! If you want to find out more about Ingredients check out their website at www.ingredientshealthfood.com or check out their store at 2031 Store St.

Cindy Dreger, left, and Deanna Danychuk spent months doing their own renovations and securing suppliers. Photo by: Bruce Stotesbury

MUST PRE-REGISTER FOR WORKSHOPS BY CALLING 386-WORM OR EMAILING office@compost.bc.ca

Upcoming EventsUpcoming EventsUpcoming EventsUpcoming Events

Giving

Goes

Green!

Giving to the

Compost Ed. Centre is easy! Save 7me and paper by

offering your dona7ons on-line through Canada

Helps.org. Simply surf over to www.canada

helps.org and type in “Compost”. Our name is on

the top of the search results. Or, visit our website

and click the Canada Helps link. And of course, do-

na7ons are s7ll happily accepted at our office.

THE LATEST DIRT is published quarterly. Unless

otherwise noted, ar7cles appearing in this news-

leAer may be reprinted only in other not-for-profit

publica7ons, with the credit given to the author

(when named) and THE LATEST DIRT.

Printed on-post consumer recycled paper.

Date Event Time Cost

Oct 13 Composting Basics 10am - 12pm FREE

Oct 13 Grow the Best Garlic 2pm - 4pm $15 - Members refer to policy

Oct 20 Worm Composting 10am - 12pm FREE

Oct 27 Advanced Composting 10am - 12pm FREE

Nov 3-4 Pumpkin Smash 10am - 3pm By Donation

Nov 17 Composting Basics 10am - 12pm FREE

Nov 17 Plant Propagation 2pm - 4pm $15 - Members refer to policy

Nov 24 Mason Bees - Part 2 2pm - 4pm $15 - Members refer to policy

Dec 1- Dec. 15 December Hours Wed-Sat. 10am-4pm Come do your holiday shopping!

Dec. 15 Holiday Sale 10am - 4pm Membership pricing for

Everyone & special deals

and treats for members!

Welcome Hannah! 9th annual Pumpkin Smash

Hannah is delighted to join the center as Site and Garden Manager. Since 2005, Hannah has been “learning and doing” on small-scale organic farms and permaculture sites in Nica-ragua, Washington State and BC. She is grateful to have so many wonderful teachers along the way as she explores her fascination with plants, food systems, agroecosystem management and food sovereignty issues, both globally and locally. She is currently finishing up her M.A. in Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria where she has been re-searching the adaptive capacity of small-scale farmers in the face of a changing climate. She also makes darn tasty pies!

We will be celebrating the 9th annual Pumpkin Smash this year the weekend after Halloween on November 3rd & 4th at various Thrifty Food locations. Once again the event will take place from 10am to 3pm and we collect your pump-kins for a proper burial rather than end-ing up in the landfill! Last year we col-lected over 16 tonnes of pumpkins and raised over $1,300 towards our pro-

grams. So invite your friends and family to come out and enjoy the fami-ly games, raffle, and help us raise awareness of composting.

9th annual Pumpkin Smash9th annual Pumpkin Smash9th annual Pumpkin Smash9th annual Pumpkin Smash Saturday, November 3Saturday, November 3Saturday, November 3Saturday, November 3rdrdrdrd: : : : Broadmead & Fairfield Thrifty FoodsBroadmead & Fairfield Thrifty FoodsBroadmead & Fairfield Thrifty FoodsBroadmead & Fairfield Thrifty Foods

Sunday, November 4Sunday, November 4Sunday, November 4Sunday, November 4thththth: : : : Cloverdale & Admirals Thrifty FoodsCloverdale & Admirals Thrifty FoodsCloverdale & Admirals Thrifty FoodsCloverdale & Admirals Thrifty Foods