Composting & Waste Reduction

This page covers the following topics:

• Free Compost Week
• Backyard Composting
• Metro Vancouver's Zero Waste Challenge
• Rethink

Changing your habits is the key to reducing waste - think about ways you can reduce your waste when you shop, work and play. There are many ways for which you can reduce waste. Below are two options to start.

1. Backyard Composting

Delta provides FREE backyard composting workshops for residents each year during the spring and summer as part of our Sustainable Gardening Workshops. For more information, please contact the Engineering Department at (604) 946-3260 or engineering@delta.ca.

Backyard composting is a simple and inexpensive way to reduce your waste and make a great fertilizer for your garden. Turn your uncooked vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags and extra yard trimmings into nutrient-rich soil.

Composting is an important way we can lessen our community's impact on the environment. If you regularly compost your yard and kitchen scraps you can reduce the amount of waste you send to the landfill by 30 percent; for the average household, that's about 300kg every year! Less waste means less trucks on the road and less methane gas generated at the landfills.

Delta's Backyard Composter Program

Garden Gourmet composters are available to Delta residents for $35 including taxes and delivery. This design has a small footprint and fits neatly in tight spots. Features include a dual access, snap-shut lid, adjustable air vents and a sliding bottom door for easy harvesting of finished compost. Black coloured top and side panels absorb radiant heat for faster decomposition. The lid accommodates loads of leaves and clippings and the smaller flip-up door makes way for kitchen scraps. Composters sold by Delta are 60cm wide x 60cm deep x 91cm high.

How to Purchase a Composter

Location		Cash	Cheque	Debit	Credit Card
Municipal Hall - Engineering Department	In-person	x	x	x
Recreation Centres - North Delta Recreation Centre - South Delta Recreation Centre - Ladner Leisure Centre - Sungod Recreation Centre - Winskill Aquatic & Fitness Centre	In-person	x	x	x	x
	By phone				x
Mail			x

Once your payment has been processed by staff, your backyard composter will be scheduled for delivery to your residence within one to two weeks between the hours of 4:00 pm and 9:00 pm. Alternately, you may pick up the composter at the Engineering Operations Yard between the hours of 8:00 am and 3:00 pm.

Composting Resources:

• Compost Hotline at (604) 736-2250
• City Farmer
• Here's the Dirt: Backyard Composting
• Here's the Dirt: Worm Composting

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2. Metro Vancouver's Zero Waste Challenge

The Zero Waste Challenge is about reducing our waste. All of us make decisions everyday that impact how much garbage we send to the landfill.

To start reducing your waste at home try the following:

• Find out what is in your garbage by conducting a waste audit. You might be surprised by how much food and paper is in there.
• Focus on the six-to-fix; six problem wastes that frequently go to the landfill (food, paper, plastic, disposable products, pet wastes, and small volumes but big problems)
• Use MetroVancouverRecycles, an online searchable database that can help you reuse or recycle 100's of items

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Rethink

The challenge to rethink waste starts at home. We are generating too much waste. This has major costs, financially and environmentally. The good news is that even making small changes in our everyday routines can make a difference. There are many simple steps we can all undertake to reduce and reuse our waste and to improve our recycling.

Do you have ideas on ways to reduce waste? Please send us your ideas to engineering@delta.ca or call (604) 946-3260.

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