Rolling out our compost bin in Sundre last week, I was somewhat surprised to see no one else on the entire block had brought theirs out.
On my drive to the office Thursday morning, I saw only a couple of homes with green bins awaiting pickup.
Granted, at this time of year — especially with the recent extreme cold — there just isn’t as much compostable material going in the bin. After all, there’s nothing coming from the frozen, snow-covered gardens or yards, which during the spring, summer and fall can quickly fill up the bin.
The municipality fully recognizes this, and sensibly alters the pickup schedule to have fewer compost pickups in the winter.
Yet we all still eat, and surely just about every household has some amount of kitchen scraps to dispose of on a daily basis.
None of this material should be discarded in the garbage.
But it should not be dumped directly into the green bin either.
Anyone who’s attempted that approach has probably had the unpleasant experience of ending up with a solid block of frozen food waste stuck at the bottom of their bin.
I suspect this is in large part the reason why so few compost bins are rolled out during the winter.
Once the compost freezes solid and gets stuck in the bin, there’s literally no point in wasting time and effort rolling it out.
This happened to us during our first winter in Sundre.
But as it turns out, there is a very simple solution that provides an instant remedy and guarantees you’ll never have to deal with this sticky situation again.
And that answer is compostable bags, which I admittedly was surprised to discover are even a thing when first introduced to the idea a few years ago, especially since they don’t at first glance look that much different from regular plastic bags.
We’ve used them ever since, and have never again had the misfortune of finding our compost waste still sitting in the bin after a pickup.
These bags actually come in handy throughout the year as well. The green bins not only remain cleaner, but also are less prone to attracting pests.
So if the only reason you’re not composting during the winter is because the compost gets frozen and stuck to the bin, I encourage you to consider trying out this approach.
You won’t regret it.
Simon Ducatel is the editor of the Sundre Round Up.
