Green bin gets test run

Editor's Note: Over the next two months, City Hall reporter Derek Puddicombe will periodically share his experience of the Green Bin pilot program.

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The greening of Ottawa has begun — and it's not a lot of work.

Last month, the city kicked off its green bin recycling pilot program with a few guinea pigs, my suburban family of five being one.

We guinea pigs are diverting our wet kitchen waste from our usual trash can to a green bin in an effort to slash what's trucked to the dump.

City councillors and staff have spent a lot of time debating the pros and cons of separating organic materials from other garbage. It's been a lively debate — concerns have included smells, fruit flies and crafty critters getting into the bins — but the city is now moving full steam ahead with recycling everything organic.

I decided to jump into the program and put it through the wringer before the official rollout at the end of the year.

It's only been a little more than a week, but we've already realized the impact.

Keeps animals out

The 80-litre green bin, with a plastic orange lock on the lid to keep raccoons and other animals out, comes with a handy small, beige, designed-in-Ottawa plastic kitchen waste catcher that can sit on the counter or be mounted on a cupboard door. You use it to place all the foodstuffs that would normally be placed in your regular garbage. Trust me, it fills up quickly. At least once a day. And then it's a trip out to the garage to dump it out into the big green bin.

The wet waste catcher has dozens of tiny perforations on the lid to allow air to get to the waste. We thought the container would smell of rotting food, but the holes are small enough that it doesn't emit any foul odour or allow pesky fruit flies to invade.

But watch out for flies laying eggs on any meat thrown into the kitchen catcher or green bin. Those eggs will turn into maggots, which has happened to one of the green bin guinea pigs.

The little basket works well. It doesn't take long to get used to tossing table scraps and other foodstuffs into the small bin rather than the garbage.

The basket also comes with small brown bags coated with a biodegradable material intended to line the small container. But we've don't use them often. We either use the allowable cardboard from a cereal box or newspaper. Often, we use nothing at all. But whatever you do, the container will need a good washing after it's emptied.

Larger bags are included to line the green bin, but again not a great fit, so we just dump everything into the bin. Again, make sure you wash it out.

Less garbage

In only a week, we've noticed a big difference in what's left to toss into the regular garbage.

Last week, we put out two bags of garbage at the curb. So far, it looks like we'll only have one garbage bag for this week's pickup.

During a regular week, my family produces anywhere from three to five bags of garbage, plus the recyclables, so going down to one bag is not bad at all. That makes my older son happy as it's his job to take out the garbage.

There's a reason why the pilot program is for three months. There probably will be a few bugs (no pun intended) to work out. But Week 1 has worked out well. It's been an easy transition.

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What goes in the green bin:

FOOD WASTE

- Kitchen scraps

- Vegetables/fruits

- Meat/fish/bones

- Dairy products

- Bread/cereals

- Coffee grounds/filters/tea bags

- Eggshells

YARD WASTE

- Leaves

- Hedge trimmings

- Branches/twigs

- Plants

- Weeds

- Grass

OTHER ACCEPTABLE ORGANIC ITEMS

- Food-soiled paper towels/napkins

- Food-soiled pizza boxes

- Sugar and potato paper bags

- Wood chips/sawdust

- Kitty litter

NON-ACCEPTABLE ITEMS

- Diapers

- Personal hygiene products

- Plastics of any kind