The Village of Harrison Hot Springs hosted an open house at Memorial Hall last Thursday so residents could learn more about the introduction of a new food waste into curbside organics collection program, which is slated to begin on Jun. 1, 2017.
Mayor and council, members of the public, Fraser Valley Regional District, and First Class Waste Services were on hand to discuss the collection program with guests. The program will be mandatory for all residents once it goes into effect.
The organic bins will be available to anyone who currently participates within the municipal waste collection service. This includes single family or duplex homes. Residents will be asked to complete an application form to receive an organic bin, which in turn, will help the Village with the distribution and tracking of bins. Applicants will have the option of picking up a bin from the Village office or having one dropped off at home.
The Village is fully engaged with the environmentally friendly organics program which has already been going strong further down the valley.
“They’re still working on creating the program for the whole region…Chilliwack is on board and we’re really delighted and we thank the Regional District for spearheading this project,” said Mayor Leo Facio. “This is the way to go,” he told The Observer of a greener future. His sentiments were echoed by councillors, Hansen and Buckley, who were close on hand to provide comment about the new program.
The program will help in greatly reducing waste in the landfill by redirecting organic waste and repurposing it as fertilizer to name one of its possibilities, once its been processed, according to First Class Waste Services Inc, Driver Supervisor, Trainer & Safety Coordinator Shane Goodwin.
“A lot of it will eventually end up going to pig farmers,” said Goodwin.
Organic waste collection might seem intimidating at first, like recycling was when it first began, but Goodwin asserts that it’s straightforward and a matter of creating the habit.
“Now everyone recycles and it seems strange that we didn’t recycle before,” he said.
The Waste truck itself has separate sorting compartments in the back so regular garbage and organics can be separated, a feature that was set up to ensure that garbage and organics didn’t get thrown into the same mix.
“I’m so excited, we needed this to happen and my kids have it — it’s easy and they adjusted within two weeks,” said Village resident Debbie Hansen of using the bins.
The bins themselves are 120 Litres and they are approximately 37 5/8” high X 19 1/8” wide X 21 1/16” deep.
According to Facio the selling point of the evening was the biodegradable bags that are available to line bins and can be thrown out.
They are available at Superstore, Canadian Tire, Home Depot, Walmart and Costco.
There is also literature available for residents to create a household compost bucket liner out of newspaper which is available on the Village website.
A common question from guests was, what can I put into my organic bin? The top three items were food scraps, plant and wood, and paper products.
Food scraps: meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, bones, eggs, dairy products, table scraps, plate scrapings, fruits, vegetables, bread, dough, pasta, grains, coffee grounds, filters, tea bags, brewery/winery waste.
Plants and wood: yard waste, plants, flowers, landscape vegetation, paper, wood byproducts, wood pallets, crates.
Paper products: paper towels/napkins, uncoated paper take-out containers, non-plastic cutlery/containers, pizza delivery boxes, waxed cardboard paper, uncoated paper cups/plates.
For more information on the program, to obtain literature, and to fill out your form to obtain a bin please visit the Village office in person or their website at www.harrisonhotsprings.ca