Half of single-family homes use Yellowknife's compost program. Ecology North says it can do better

The City of Yellowknife says only 50 per cent of single-family homes are bringing their green carts to the curb — and a local environmental group says it's a sign there's room for growth. 

"When I see a number that low, to me it just means that we need to do more work, we need to do more education and awareness," said Dawn Tremblay, the executive director of Ecology North. "[The program] hasn't gotten a whole lot of love lately." 

The city began composting organics from restaurants and grocery stores as a pilot project back in 2009. Ecology North worked with the city to develop the program. Four years later, it was expanded to collect organics from homes and industry, and by 2020 the city started operating and monitoring the compost facility on its own. 

"We've got green carts, people can use them … but I think it's time to move past that and to continue on with the progression of developing the program," said Tremblay. 

This week marks waste reduction week across Canada, and on Friday Ecology North hosted a lunch-time activity about reducing food waste. Tremblay said cutting down on food waste and composting the leftovers are key steps in managing organic material.

That's important, she said, because when organic material ends up in the regular landfill, it releases methane into the atmosphere — a greenhouse gas that is 80 times more potent in terms of global warming than carbon dioxide. 

Composting also saves space in people's garbage cans and in the landfill.

"It costs a lot of money to build a landfill, it costs a lot of money to operate a landfill," said Tremblay. "And if you can keep that organic waste out of the landfill, then you're saving your city money."

The Trailbreaker10:48Why composting is important to our environment.

David Watling Yellowknife's waste management planner. He joined Hilary Bird in our studio to talk about the importance of composting.

Tremblay would like to see the city do more education and outreach to increase the number of people using green carts. She said Ecology North is open to partnering with the city to do that work.

She said if the city were producing a higher-grade compost, it could also sell that material back to Yellowknifers or donate it to schools with gardening programs. That, she believes, would encourage people to use their green bins and sort the materials appropriately. 

In an interview with CBC News earlier in the month, David Watling, acting manager of sustainability and solid waste, said the city — like Tremblay — would like to see the number of people using green carts increase. 

"It could be a combination of maybe lack of interest or education," he said, when asked why participation might be as low as it is. 

Watling said the city is trying to make composting an easier option for more people in the city. 

Right now, if apartments and condos want compost bins a property management company or condo corporation would need to set up its own contract with the city's waste hauler. 

Watling said the city was looking at doing a pilot project "in the next year or so" to bring compost bins to apartment buildings.