The city has partnered with the Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation – along with Minto Group Inc., Megacorp Property Management Inc. and Better-Living Co-op – in a green-bin pilot project to test the feasibility of extending residential composting to multi-unit dwellings.
Eight high-rise apartment buildings throughout the city will take part in the program on a trial basis until the end of May.
First introduced in 2010, the city’s green-bin program allows residents to recycle their organic waste in addition to black and blue bin items. Up until now, apartment-dwellers haven’t had the opportunity to take part.
Sustainability is very important to the CCOC, says Meg McCallum, manager of the organization’s membership and communications department.
McCallum says green behaviour among tenants is encouraged wherever possible, so joining the green-bin initiative was an easy decision.
In some apartment buildings, residents can reuse their compost to grow flowers and vegetables on their rooftops – almost like a community garden.
The bins are located outside some of the participating buildings, so there is the potential for some residents to opt out. It’s always easier to go down to a basement or garage in your housecoat and slippers, says McCallum.
But for Helene Charbonneau, a resident of one of the participating buildings, these extra steps are worth it if it means a better future. “If I have to do it for the new generation, if it’s going to help them, then of course we’re going to do it,” she says.
“It’s really important that we start to see the waste that we produce, not as waste, but as resources that we can reuse,” says Murdo Murchison, sustainability officer at Carleton University. In addition to keeping landfills clear, apartment compost collection is easier and more efficient because the waste is concentrated in one area, he explains. This can save the city time and money.
Response from apartment dwellers will determine how best to include high-rise apartment buildings in the green-bin program in the future. Factors such as container type, number of residents and the building’s physical set-up will also be considered during the trial, says Janine Melbourne, waste diversion co-ordinator of the city’s solid waste services branch.
Since its inception, the green-bin program has diverted more than 53,000 tonnes of organic waste from the city’s landfills.
The city could divert an extra 20,000 tonnes of waste per year with the addition of high-rise buildings, says Ray Garner, program manager of collection operations for the city’s environmental services department.
Whether green bins are here to stay for apartment-dwellers, McCallum says the CCOC will continue to provide its own on-site composting facilities for its residents.