Editor:
I was shocked to hear from the person working at Salish Soils that they regularly have to “divert” kitchen green waste due to contamination from those annoying stickers that are applied to produce. I assume divert means depositing the waste into the landfill. I think this will come as a shock to those of us who diligently separate our kitchen scraps and proudly fill up our green bins weekly, feeling good about the fact that this is turned into beautiful garden compost and is prolonging the life of the Dusty Road landfill.
Ten years ago, when I moved into a strata that has community gardens, I was fortunate to take over some raised beds to grow vegetables. To this day, I am still unearthing plastic avocado and banana labels from the previous gardener, who thought they were doing the right thing by digging in their kitchen scraps. The labels do not biodegrade and are still intact and completely legible after all this time.
So please, let’s all be diligent about removing any stickers or labels from fruit and vegetable skins before tossing them into the green bin. While we are at it, perhaps it’s time to reacquaint ourselves with what can and can’t go into the green bins. It is such a great program. It is a shame for loads of kitchen waste to be diverted or contaminated and rendered unusable.
Sincerely,
Michele Libling
tuskwum (Wilson Creek)
