FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - JUNE 21, 2002

Bin there, done that? RCM offers composting advice

This weekend's truckload sale of 10,000 compost bins, sponsored by the City of Winnipeg, has sent a local environmental group into high gear in anticipation of a surge in composting inquiries. Resource Conservation Manitoba has been doing public education on backyard composting since 1996. But, says Susan Kennedy, co-ordinator of the group's Compost Action Project, "This is definitely the most attention we have ever seen for backyard composting in Winnipeg!"

RCM will staff a Help Desk at each sale site, where people can sign up for free workshops on how to use commercial bins like those being sold at the truckload sale. A telephone helpline (925-3777), available weekdays, will offer advice on the how's and why's of composting.

"Putting inexpensive bins into people's back yards is a strategy many communities have used to boost composting rates," says RCM's Executive Director, Randall McQuaker. "The main thing is ensuring that people know how to compost using whatever type of bin they have."
"People have been composting for thousands of years," Kennedy notes. "It's not exactly rocket science, and you don't have to be an engineer to have great results."

She offers the following tips for composting success:
- A balance of both fresh green and dried brown materials provides the right mix to keep the process going.
- The organisms that do the composting need air, so giving the pile a stir from time to time is a good idea.
- Maintaining the right moisture level is important. The pile should be about as damp as a wrung-out sponge.
- Since smaller particles will compost more quickly, chopping up the materials will help produce finished compost faster.

RCM points out that the environmental benefits of composting include saving valuable resources, cutting fossil fuel used in transporting waste, and reducing methane gas that is produced when organic materials decompose anaerobically (in the absence of oxygen) in a landfill. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.
The composters being sold this weekend include a booklet that explains the process. More information is available on the RCM web site at www.resourceconservation.mb.ca and from the Compost Infoline at 925-3777. The Compost Action Project is supported by Manitoba Conservation, the Manitoba Product Stewardship Corporation, and the City's Water and Waste Department.
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MORE INFORMATION
Susan Kennedy Randall McQuaker
925-3777 and 925-3770
on site at Kildonan Place, Saturday June 22