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Holiday 3Rs tips
The holiday season can be one of the most wasteful times of the year that directly impact our landfill and recycling programs. This year, try to use less and reuse more by making the most of these waste-free holiday tips.
Kraft paper yard waste bag best container to use in winter
During the colder months, from mid-October through April, please use kraft paper yard waste bags to set out your leaf and yard waste for collection. However, when the ground is wet and snow covered, please avoid leaving your kraft paper yard waste bags out for periods of time because the full bag freezes to the ground. This can cause the bags to rip when the crews try lifting and carrying the heavy material to the truck and yard waste spills onto the ground. One solution is to not fill your kraft bags too full and another is to keep yard waste in a dry area and only set it out early on the morning of your collection day.
Yard waste put out in rigid, open-top containers (i.e., an old garbage can) tends to freeze inside the container can collection crews can't empty the container without resorting to banging the can to loosen the material. This could potentially damage your container, something we'd like to avoid. Your cooperation is very much appreciated.
Green Bin is a success: The facts about the program
Toronto's Green Bin Program is one of the most successful waste diversion programs in North America. Our unique composting technology allows everything from table scraps to pet waste to be turned into compost. The City needs residents' continued participation. Learn the facts.
More useful Green Bin program information:
What amount of my household garbage could be Green Bin material?
About one-third, or 30%, of your household garbage is organic material - material that can be processed into compost for use on farms, parklands and gardens instead of being sent to landfill. The purpose of the Green Bin Program is to divert these organic materials from landfill and turn them into compost. Given the City’s goal of striving for 70% diversion of waste from landfill, reducing our volume of garbage by separating out organics to be processed as a beneficial resource, is the right thing to do.
Questioning the value of the Green Bin program? (PDF)
Why did the City introduce the Green Bin program?
How Green Bin organics contribute to the City’s 2008 overall diversion rate?
Questions and answers about the program
What goes in the bin v.s. what doesn’t
How organics are processed – what is removed as residue and what continues on to become finished compost
Green Bin organics go full circle (PDF) – what goes in your bin could end up back in your garden as compost to improve soil conditions
How to use compost?
Green Bin collection is weekly – check your full collection schedule
Think your Green Bin material is being mixed with garbage when collected? It’s not true.
Homeowners: need to replace your bins or get additional ones?
How can I participate in my multi-unit building’s Green Bin program?
You'll need the free Adobe
Acrobat reader to view PDF files. 
Toronto's Compost Provision Program
Each year, the City provides free compost that is safe to use in gardens and on lawns as a beneficial soil amendment. Read more about the City's Compost Provision Program, including why use compost, how to use it and where.
City Council approves plan for two new organic processing facilities within Toronto
Due to strong participation in the Green Bin Program and the plan to expand this organics collection program to more users, City Council, at its June 2007 meeting, approved building and siting two new facilities to process Green Bin organic material. Each facility will be capable of processing 55,000 tonnes of organic material bringing the City’s processing capacity within city borders up to 110,000 tonnes a year. Find out more about the process, including the study, reports and public consultation that led to this decision. For more information about the processing of organics, please view the presentation The Green Bin Program … from curb to compost.
Pumpkins are
now accepted and collected as yard waste!
New and updated instructions for Green Bin Program participants: in the past we asked you to put pumpkins in your green bin, but now we realize they take up too much space in the bin and could make it too heavy for collectors to lift. Please put your pumpkins out as yard waste. Either way, the pumpkins will be composted!
Mechanical
leaf collection
Mechanical
leaf collection is a program designed to supplement yard waste collection
in those areas identified as having heavy accumulations of leaves. more... |
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