a peek inside the fishbowl

1 | Heather Burke

December 27th, 2009 at 1:01 pm

We have been using the green bin. The bin is about half full. We do not usually put much garbage out. I think the carbon footprint is larger than it should have been. The green bins should have been implemented 25 years ago. They green bin programme was in use in Europe over 20 years ago. What we should be focusing on is things like the plaxco (sp) plant to create energy.

We will continue to use the green bin.

2 | Judy

December 27th, 2009 at 1:03 pm

We haven’t even received our green bin! I suspect I really need to call. We saw two houses in our complex with them but that is it.

3 | betsy mae

December 27th, 2009 at 1:03 pm

We’ve had a green bin for a while, (my memory sucks and I can’t remember how long a year, two??) and I like it. We used to compost so it’s really no different except that we can add things like meat. Our ‘outdoor’ green bin is kept beside our composter so now we just take our scraps out on a daily basis and put it into the outdoor green bin instead of the coposter. Ours is collected weekly and we fill it at least halfway each week. My complaints are that I have is that we don’t have space for the ‘indoor’ green bin so it’s on our counter most of the time. When we renovate we will find a decent home for it. Also, I like to use bags in the indoor bin and they are expensive. Paper doesn’t do a good enough job and when we don’t use them it’s just plain gross in the summer. Another complaint is that the racoons have figured out how to open the green bins!!!! We have to secure ours with bungee cords or move it into the garage in the summer. The introduction of our green bins mane that our garbage collection is now bi-weekly, I think that is great.

4 | Lynn

December 27th, 2009 at 1:11 pm

Ours arrived a couple of weeks ago, but we are the last pickup on the rotation — our first green bin pickup isn’t until January 15th. I just started using it this morning as I didn’t want it to be too gross by the time our pickup finally rolls around.

I am absolutely committed to the program but I am very, very nervous about using the bins. Mostly I don’t feel entirely comfortable about just throwing wet, messy, smelly stuff directly in our green bin, but at the same time, I refuse to pay a fortune for those paper bin liners. Right now I have just been putting in relatively dry food waste — stuff like paper bags and wrappers from food.

I’m nervous about food and gunk freezing in there and never coming back out; if I pour, say, leftover yogurt in there, will it make a pool in the bottom and stay forever? How do you deal with stuff like that?

And in the summer, will there be a million bees and fruit flies around?

I’ve been re-reading your tips for working with your own compost bins. We should have been keeping leaves! More piles of leaves! Where are our leaves???

I’m sure in a couple of months I’ll stop panicking :).

5 | Jeff Leiper

December 27th, 2009 at 1:11 pm

Just started - the oragami newspaper liner seems to work great! It was cool to empty the table scraps into it instead of throwing them out, and I need to dump the vacuum cannister into it.
We compost year round into the backyard, but I can see how this is going to reduce our garbage by a significant amount. I’ll continue backyard composting just because I love the stuff - lawn and garden seem to love it - but am looking forward to diverting even more of our waste. I can’t see what we’re going to have left at the curb once we really get underway.

6 | Joe Boughner

December 27th, 2009 at 1:15 pm

We’re using ours but nowhere near full yet. I think we’re still throwing away a lot of stuff that could go in the bin (old habits die hard) but most of the food waste is going into the bin.

I was impressed by how well the smaller bucket traps the smells. Ours sits right out on the counter and I didn’t realize how bad the contents smelled until I took it out to the garage to dump it in the green bin.

7 | zchamu

December 27th, 2009 at 1:17 pm

We’ve been using it but not efficiently enough. Our problem is that the bin is outside, and with the weather lately being atrocious the good intentions get outweighed by the reality of trying to get the squirrel proof lid open in the cold and snow. But we’re working on it. I suppose that was one good thing about our ex-suburban dwelling - the attached garage made this stuff a lot easier.

8 | Lynn

December 27th, 2009 at 1:17 pm

Here’s an interesting link that, in theory, teaches you to make your own paper bin liner (for the little bin) from some newspaper:

http://www.greenbinottawa.ca/Libraries/Green_Bin_Tools_English/Origami_Bin_Liner.sflb.ashx

9 | Debbie

December 27th, 2009 at 2:34 pm

Ours is practically full too…I think it would have been better to have bigger bins b/c I know we’re going to fill it up before it’s ready for pick-up. I’m glad that this program is finally getting off the ground…it’s not a big change for us since we’re from Hfx., where we’ve had the green bin program for years.

10 | Sonya

December 27th, 2009 at 2:37 pm

We just moved to Kingston in the summer and they have had the program for quite sometime. We LOVE it, I love the fact that you can put everything into it, with two young kids and lots of scrap food, it is wonderful. Right now for the holidays we are visiting my in-laws in BC and they don’t have a composting program like this, and I have really realized how much we rely on it back home.
I know that the bags are costly, but they are worth the money, don’t have to handle the “bio-waste” (my husband’s nickname for it).
I love it so much that I could talk for hours about it.
GO GREEN!!!!

11 | CarrieLou

December 27th, 2009 at 4:31 pm

I’m really excited about using the green bin (I feel like a slacker for not using it already but our first pickup isn’t until Jan 15th and I didn’t want to get started too early b’c I know we will fill ours up fast!). I expect we will have a learning curve in our house since hubby and I will have to figure out what goes where, then we’ll have to teach our 6yr and 3yr olds how to use them as well. However my 6yr is very anxious to use the counter top bin so maybe he can help to train mommy and daddy. LOL

12 | Jennifer

December 27th, 2009 at 5:02 pm

The squirrels are using ours as a drive through fast food take out! Took a BIG bite out of it on about day three. Ours was full a couple weeks ago so I keep squishing everything down. I am proud to say we have not had enough garbage to even bring a bag to the curb the last few weeks. I love the green bin and I especially like the calendar that came with it that tells you where/how to dispose of everything. Squirrels love it too!

13 | Tricia

December 27th, 2009 at 7:21 pm

We live in Waterloo and we just got the green bins in our neighbourhood a few months ago (we are one of the last neighbourhoods to get it in KW).

We love it and the small bin on our counter gets filled up rather quickly. The big bin gets put out once a week and it is usually quite full each week. We will use the green bin a lot over the winter but then switch back to our compost bin in the back yard once the weather warms up.

It wasn’t hard to make the change since we were already using our composter quite a bit.

Tricia

14 | Just An Ottawa Dad

December 27th, 2009 at 7:37 pm

I’ve been using it since it arrived in late November. It’ll be full by the end of the week.

Loving the fact that cat litter can go in it.

15 | Rae

December 27th, 2009 at 10:04 pm

We have .. half? started using it. It’s tricky to remember the litter can go in it, and since we have a household compost, we’re now running two kitchen buddies - one for ours, and one city of ottawa. It’s tricky!

16 | Trea

December 28th, 2009 at 12:34 am

I WISH my municipality had compost recycling because the amount of compost-y stuff we are forced to toss makes me literally feel ill (our townhouse doesn’t allow compost bins and we have no alternative).
I’m interested to hear your take on how successful the program is in Ottawa (when I lived there everyone was still throwing aluminum cans in the garbage … it felt like Ontarians weren’t as committed to recycling as BCers , but perhaps I was hanging with the wrong crowd ;). Interestingly, Halifax has compost receptacles alongside their garbage and recycling bins on every street. Huh. Maple Ridge, BC has a way to go.

17 | Jay

December 28th, 2009 at 12:53 am

I was super excited about the rollout of the green bin program in Ottawa. However, I think the city of Ottawa has failed miserable in this rollout! Just before I step on my soapbox we used the green bin program in Durham and loved it. Garbage was cut significantly. Often only 1-1.5 bags of garbage every 2 weeks with 2 kids in diapers.

1. The convenient bin is not so convenient. I find the design for the smaller bin sucks. The lid doesn’t open all the easily. You have to use 2 hands to click it open forceably all the way.

2. The paper bag liners that you can purchase (which I’m willing to do) don’t fit in nicely. I understand the no plastic rule. The last green bin program we were involved in had biodegradable bags we purchased to use and kept in our freezer otherwise they started to decompose on you. They were perfect - like little plastic bags that fit in your small bin. When they were full, close it up and move it to the big bin. The ones they tell us we can use don’t fit and are dificult to roll down to fit. A big disappointment.

3. Retailers are sold out of the paper bag liners and they’re back ordered. Shouldn’t the city have been better prepared to work with retailers for the demand they knew was coming?

4. Green bins should be picked up weekly and garbage bi-weekly all the time. I understand the greenbin program is optional and they call garbage pick up a service but we need to get our priorities straight. I’m shocked to hear how many people are not participating and have already returned their green bin. Again - the Durham program would not pick up garbage if it contained recyclables or greenbin material.

I know that no matter how they rolled this out people will not be happy. I’m sure many will balk when I say garbage pick up bi-weekly, but seriously. If you are recycling and using your green bin, even with kids in diapers your garbage is decreased drastically. If they want more people to participate in the program then make it easier to participate. I’m not looking for more work - like rinsing out my green bin everytime. They should have considered this.

I hope it goes well. And yes, I’ve started to use it but not for messy food waste yet.

18 | Valerie

December 28th, 2009 at 10:02 am

We layer leaves to reduce the smell in the backyard composters, so I had some saved. Unfortunately, our green bin is full, 2 weeks early! I’ve gone back to the backyard ones, but that means only veggie matter for a while, just when we were getting used to all the things we could put in!

We have a stainless steel indoor can (from Lee Valley) on the counter, so the small city one sits by the litter box to be scooped directly into. Seems to work well with little smell.

The hard part I find is the idea of composting used tissues, especially in cold season! It’s okay if they go directly to the composter, but the kids can’t reach so use the bathroom garbage and sometimes plastics and other things get tossed in there so I have to sort it - blech, gloves please!

19 | Ian

December 28th, 2009 at 10:25 am

When it was delivered, our smaller ‘kitchen’ bin came with plastic bag liners included. Last night I noticed that on the garbage calendar it says ‘no plastic bags - even biodegradable or compostable ones’. We’ve filled our green bin over the past few weeks, using the plastic bags provided. I wonder if they’re going NOT empty the green bin the first time they come because of this?

I note the comments above about using paper bag liners (which apparently are out of stock most places) or creating your own. I’ll look into this.

Otherwise my main comment is that the green bin was obviously not tested in ice/snow. We don’t have covered storage for our garbage bins and it’s pretty much been impossible to open for the past couple of weeks with snow/ice filling the recessed handle section.

20 | Ginger

December 28th, 2009 at 12:51 pm

Wow. Even with all the “problems” this sounds like an amazing program. We don’t have ANYTHING like it in Texas. We do have a large recycling program which has reduced our trash waste considerably. If we had a composting program we would have almost no trash at all!

21 | Jay

December 28th, 2009 at 4:38 pm

Thanks Lynn for the link to the oragami paper liner. I just made one with the citizen (full size paper) and it fits in the kitchen bit WAY better then the ones you buy. I’ll keep some paper towel at the bottom of the bin to catch gross wet stuff, but the fit is so much better!

22 | Shannon

December 28th, 2009 at 5:37 pm

I am really happy with the green bin program (so far) and am excited to be participating. We started using our green bin a few weeks ago and it’s pretty much full now. We have been backyard composters for years and years but I will admit that I am not such a loyal environmentalist in the freezing cold winter months - our composter is very far at the back of our yard and I couldn’t always make myself go back there when the snow and ice was deep.

We had a counter top bin we used for years but it broke this summer. I am using the City of Ottawa kitchen bin now and it doesn’t bother me at all - I just sit it out on the counter most of the time and chop and peel as I need to and throw all the stuff in. When I am done I place it under the kitchen sink out of the way - so far not a big deal but we are definitely used to composting so it’s not a huge change for us. It took my husband a while to feel comfortable putting meat, dairy, and other items in the bin, but I was throwing it all in there on the first day!

I don’t see a problem with the two week pick up - yet. As time goes on I’ll have to see. We are a family of five and a I cook a lot - so there is a lot of peeling and scraps that go in the bin. It may be that we will fill it too fast.

As a native of Nova Scotia I have seen my parents participate in the green bin program for years - N.S. was the first municipality in the WORLD to roll out such a program.

I don’t think I will use the bag liners - I have never used them in the past and just usually put dirty paper towels or cardboard at the bottom of the kitchen bin. Yes, it occasionally gets messy and gross, and I wash it but it’s no big deal. I’m so glad to hear others are using their bin - a number of my neighbours have complained about it and say they won’t use it :( So disappointing.

23 | Brie

December 28th, 2009 at 6:41 pm

We have a compost in our backyard. Yesterday we started throwing stuff into the green bin instead. I think we can fill it in a week. Maybe vegetarians should get an extra bin? :-)

24 | Shan

December 29th, 2009 at 8:37 pm

We’ve had the green bin program in our town for well over a year. We love it. We average about half a container a week. They pick up weekly here, do they not in Ottawa? Not very long after the program started we did away with the mini bin for under the sink. It was a pain to open. We just use a garbage bowl on the counter that we dump and toss in the dishwasher daily. Works much better for us that way. If only everyone would use them.

25 | andrea

January 1st, 2010 at 10:51 am

Thanks all for your feedback!

The DIY liner is something I’ve been using too. I highly recommend it.

Shan: the pickup is bi-weekly until April.

26 | emilie

January 2nd, 2010 at 5:23 pm

Bigs thanks for the DIY liner.

I have been backyard fruit/veggie/plant material composter almost for 20 years now. I had started my green bin Dec 7th and it was full before Xmas (excluding the fruit/veggie because that still goes in my backyard compost.) My complaint is that the green bin could be bigger. I make several different meals to make frozen dinners about every two weeks and this is in addition to the regular cooking so the bin fills quickly especially with kitty litter and the food soiled paper products and tissue. For a family of four, we normally only have one garbage container on the curb each week. Since starting the green bin, the we generate less than half of a garbage bin each week.

For those of you who haven’t been to PEI, they even have a more extensive garbage sorting (… I think the colours are red/yellow/blue/green/black). .

Kitchen sorting , I have 1 Lee Valley steel compost container for the compost and a plastic container for the fruit/veggie under the kitchen sink. Also I have the pull out bins (also from Lee Valley) one for recyclables and the other for paper/newspaper which sit under a built-in table in the kitchen.

In each bathroom, there are 2 small step on bins on one each side of the toilet. (The Simply Human ones from Home Outfitters because they are narrow and can fit in the space beside the toilet.) The side closest to the bathroom vanity is the one for composting (since most of the time it is tissue) and the farthest one from the vanity is for the non-compost stuff. So far so good with the kids as the only new thing for them is the extra compost container under the sink and now the extra bin the bathrooms.

27 | rikla

January 10th, 2010 at 7:21 am

My green bin is not being filled. I have no idea where to keep the little bin and where to find the time to empty it daily. I think it disgusting and dirty and a huge chore. In my house, we would probably fill it daily entailing a trip to the green bin daily and a daily wash of the little bin. There are not enough hours in the day! Also, how are the landfills going to breakdown now that all the “good” garbage is not going to be placed in them? And how does having a second garbage truck coming through to collect this much reduce the carbon footprint?

28 | andrea

January 10th, 2010 at 9:32 am

You’re right rikla, there definitely aren’t enough hours in the day. I would rather surf the internet and read blogs rather than do any number of disgusting chores: like scrubbing toilets, cleaning the gunk at the bottom from the fridge or removing hairs out of the kitchen drain (and to think that I don’t have a dog or cat to clean up after or diapers to change!)… all chores that are pretty gross in my view, yet they have to be done. It’s about priorities.

To answer your question, landfills don’t exactly break garbage down because they’re air and water tight. Even newspaper, considered to be biodegradable material, take years to break down. (Perfectly readable 40-year old newspapers have been found in landfills. That’s gotta tell you something.)

Landfills are giant garbage pails. They’re not designed to break down trash, only to bury it. If we don’t take action at some point, we run the risk of buried in our own crap.

One of the benefits of keeping compostable materials out of landfills is that it reduces the amount of methane (a greenhouse gas) that is generated.

I’m taking up space on this planet and using its resources. I want to live in a more sustainable way and help ensure that there’s something left for my children, as well as for my children’s children. And I don’t mind scrubbing out my compost pail for that.