Feed your soil during Compost Awareness Week!

Learn how to start a backyard compost

There’s nothing your plants love more than compost! And what better time to get started than during Compost Awareness Week, proclaimed by the City of Vaughan from Sunday, May 3 to Saturday, May 9. This year’s theme is “Compost! Feed the Soil that Feeds Us!” highlighting the important role compost plays in sustaining our food sources.  

Here's everything you need to know about composting and how you can get started.

Compost is the natural process of recycling organic matter, such as food scraps, into a valuable fertilizer that enriches soil and plants. By turning organics into compost and using it in our gardens and farmlands, we can create healthy soils that produce healthier food. Compost also reduces the need to use fertilizer and pesticides, improves water quality, conserves water and stores carbon in soil. 

Composting can also reduce your household’s curbside waste by up to 30 per cent! It’s something everyone can do, no matter the size of your home, garden or community – so why not start now?

Here’s how to start backyard composting:

• You can buy a backyard composter from the City online at vaughan.ca/ServiceVaughan. 
• All City backyard composters include instructions on how to turn your fruit and vegetable scraps and leaf and yard materials into garden fertilizer. Here are the steps to follow: 
  • Step 1: Pick a level spot on the ground with good water drainage and significant sun exposure. Dig a shallow hole, one or two inches deep, for a secure spot to place the composter.
  • Step 2: Put organic materials, such as banana peels, apple cores, cabbage stalks and eggshells, in the compost bin. When adding fruit and vegetable scraps, either dig them into the existing compost immediately or cover those items with soil or a layer of leaves. You can also add nitrogen-rich green materials, such as grass clippings, and carbon-rich brown materials, such as leaves or straw. Chop or shred these materials into small pieces to speed up the composting process.
  • Step 3: Keep the compost moist, like the dampness of a wrung-out sponge, but not wet. If it gets too dry, water it with a watering can or hose. Using a tight-fitting cover will keep it from becoming too wet from rainfall and deter animals and flies.
  • Step 4: Provide air to the compost by turning it with a pitchfork or shovel.
• When your compost is ready to use, it should be dark and crumbly, with most of the materials blended and unidentifiable. You can screen the finished compost to remove coarse items or materials that did not fully decompose, such as shells, corncobs or twigs – but save these items for your next compost batch!
• Bury your compost deep into the ground, below the topsoil, before planting flowers and plants. Alternatively, use it as mulch to top-dress around plants and trees to help retain moisture, smother weeds and prevent soil compaction, or on lawns as part of a seed-starting mix or a top dressing.

For more tips and a list of materials that can and can’t be used for compost, visit vaughan.ca/compost.

Leaf and yard waste and green bin collections

Did you know the City’s leaf and yard waste and green bin collection programs allow you to compost curbside? The City collects yard waste and green bin organics and takes the materials to facilities to be composted. Then, the materials are used in farmlands across Ontario to grow our food. 

We accept a wide range of organics through the green bin program. Green bins can be used for items that cannot go in your backyard composter, such as meat, bones, tissues, pet waste and diapers. We also collect unlimited green bins every week on your scheduled collection day! To buy a new green bin, visit vaughan.ca/ServiceVaughan.

To learn more about the City’s waste collection services, visit vaughan.ca/waste.

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