About 70 people came out to learn about composting last Sunday, and get advice on how to set up a system that would allow them to qualify to opt out of the Town of Gibsons’ curbside organics collection program.
Buddy Boyd and Barb Hetherington of Gibsons Zero Waste Solutions organized the March 11 event.
Boyd said he’d have preferred to see the Town offer support and incentives for composting before considering any curbside pickup, but he gives full credit to Gibsons for setting up a system that allows home composters to opt out, something he said is a first in Canada.
“It’s taken a long time to get here, but the fact that we have it in its imperfect form speaks volumes, it really does,” he said. “Maybe what we can do from this is get the [Sunshine Coast Regional District] to give out opt-out options, and maybe push them a little bit.”
Boyd said a lot of the questions fielded by guest Marika Smith of the Victoria Compost Education Centre were about technique and how to set up a system that would meet the Town’s requirement of diverting 100 per cent of a household’s compostable waste, including meat scraps, grains, dairy waste and “food soiled” paper and cardboard, such as pizza boxes.
There were also several composter models on display.
The Town has extended the deadline for residents to apply to opt out of the organics collection program to March 22, and it’s moving to clarify that there is no cap on the number of opt-outs.
Acting mayor Silas White, who was one of the attendees at the Sunday clinic, said the four per cent figure that some people thought was a cap was actually an estimate of the number of households that might opt out. If the final tally is more than four per cent, or roughly 80 households, the fees will have to be adjusted.
As it stands, the new collection rates will be $135 for solid waste, and an additional $70 for organic pickup. Households that qualify to opt out will pay only the solid waste fee.
White also said interest in opting out is in line with what the Town was expecting, after a survey found about 10 per cent of households were already composting at least some of their organic waste.
“It shows that we did make the right decision in offering an opt-out,” he said. “It’s a good policy approach to not be charging people for curbside if they’re already home composting.”
The home composting workshop was one of the first events Boyd and Hetherington have organized under their new business. The couple sold the land where they’d been running Gibsons Recycling Depot (GRD) in 2016, and recently sold the business itself.
Boyd said the new landlord, locally owned Shazach Holdings, and the new owners of GRD, who are also local, are planning to work together to keep the depot open.
