The 120L and 240L bins assigned for yard and food waste will have green lids (Liam Verster/Vernon Matters)

By Liam Verster

Compost Collection

Yard and food waste collection program starting in May

Feb 7, 2022 | 3:04 PM

The City of Vernon is moving forward with a recommendation from the Climate Action Plan by allowing Vernonites to compost their yard and food waste.

Mayor Victor Cumming announced Monday that residents will be provided with a garbage bin with a green lid to dispose of their organic waste.

“Before organics program begins this spring, each residence in the city that is currently receiving garbage collection will receive a dedicated organic collection cart,” said Cumming.

Each household will get a 120-litre cart, but there are households in our community that may need the larger 240-litre cart.

“This may be the case if you have [a household with] five or more people, a large yard and many garden areas, many trees, or even lucky enough to have an orchard,” said Cumming.

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“Residents who need the larger cart must go to the city website to request one before Feb. 25.”

The request must be submitted prior to 3:30 p.m. on that day. Residents who don’t have access to a computer can request a larger bin by calling 250-549-6757.

This deadline will allow time for the city to request the carts, which will need to be manufactured and delivered before the anticipated launch of the weekly organic waste collection program on May 2, 2022.

Vernon Mayor Victor Cumming and Mary Stockdale, co-chair of Vernon’s Climate Action Advisory Committee, announce that applications for larger organic waste bins has opened (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

Mary Stockdale, the owner of the property where Cumming made the announcement and the co-chair of Vernon’s Climate Action Advisory Committee, said rolling out this project will have some impacts on reducing the city’s environmental footprint.

“As much as it may be unexpected, kitchen food scraps and yard organic materials disposed of in our landfill are our third largest source, or seven per cent, of greenhouse gas emissions in Vernon, but we can change this,” said Stockdale.

“It will soon be within the power of Vernon residents to make the choices of how we handle food scraps and yard waste material.”

The highest contributors to the city’s greenhouse gases are operating vehicles (63 per cent) and heating buildings (30 per cent).

Organic waste disposed of in the trash currently goes to the landfill, where it breaks down without oxygen and as a result produces methane.

Instead, the organics collected through the new program will be taken to a separate location where it will be composted.

“Creating compost from our organic waste doesn’t only reduce the production of greenhouse gases. When we add it to our soil it also helps capture carbon dioxide by promoting healthier and more vital plant growth, and when you add it to the soil it also helps create resilience to climate impacts by preventing erosion during extreme storm events and retaining water when there’s a drought,” said Stockdale.

Cumming noted that there won’t be any additional environmental impact associated with the pickup of the organic waste in Vernon.

“What’s going to happen is the same truck will arrive and put (garbage) into one bin, and (organics) into the other bin on the same truck,” Cumming explained.

“So the number of trucks in the city will be the same, the amount of collection will be the same, but we’ll just have them going into different bins at the same time.”

The B.C. government is providing the city with a $936,720 grant to purchase the bins. Vernon residents will see their utility bills increase by approximately $4.46 per quarter under this program.