The Urban Compost Project picks up food scraps from businesses around Nelson.

Carried by a bike trailer or car share co-op truck, it is brought to a central composting facility where the food is decomposed and transformed.

Our compost process clean and simple for participants.

We supply a compost bin that is picked up weekly and replaced upon pick up.

The finished product is sold to the public for use. The entire food to compost process takes only eight weeks.

LANDFILLS AND COMPOSTING

Landfills are the nations largest producer of methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent to global warming than carbon dioxide.

This is due to the anaerobic breakdown of organic waste buried in the landfills, which produces large amounts of methane, CO2, and other harmful Greenhouse Gases.

The composting process, an environmentally friendly aerobic decay of organic matter, instead converts this waste into a useful commodity. It also reduces GHG emissions, producing minimal CO2, and virtually zero methane.

COMPOST BENEFITS YOUR GARDEN

Microorganisms decompose plant remains; by recycling nutrients, composting renews life: our food becomes food for plants that we eat.

COMPOST:

* Introduces beneficial microorganisms into the soil

* Darkens soil so it can absorb more heat

* Improves soil structure, water absorption and aeration

* Improves the soil’s ability to hold nutrients, reducing the need for fertilizers

* Helps to prevent plant disease; reducing the need for fungicides

COMPOSTING BENEFITS EVERYONE

Composting has the potential to reduce household landfill waste by one third!

Composting reduces the amount of transportation needed for waste management in Nelson, therefore reducing CO2 and other GHG missions.

Because organic materials in landfills produce significant amounts of methane, composting helps to reduce greenhouse gases.

Composting degrades many pesticides and helps to clean up contaminated soil.

By reducing the need for fertilizers, pesticides and more expensive soil conditioners, compost saves money.

In the year and a half the project has been running, 50 tonnes of food waste has been diverted from producing methane and other GHGs in a landfill.

This is equivalent to the annual GHG emissions of 10 average passenger cars.

Instead, seven and a half cubic meters of wonderful compost has been created and sold as black gold, almost exclusively run on human, organic power.

For more information contact us at Earth Matters:

* The Greater Victoria Compost Education Centre

www.compost.bc.ca

* The Composting Council of Canada

www.compost.org