The 2014 Free Compost Week in the Metro Vancouver community of Delta ended Sunday April 13. Each year, Delta residents are invited to pick up one cubic metre (pickup truck-sized load) of compost for FREE from the Vancouver Landfill. Compost is not soil! It is an organic soil supplement. According to the Earthwise Society, who operate an organic farm and community garden in Tsawwassen, composting is “a system of managing natural process of decay and replenishment in the soil for the benefit of your garden. It’s nature’s way of recycling and returning organic matter to the earth. Compost contains valuable nutrients and micro-organisms to improve the soil. It’s the building block of an ecological approach to gardening and is easy to start and maintain.”
It's a clever and easy way to turn your uncooked vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags and extra yard trimmings into nutrient-rich soil. Some of the best uses for compost are in mulch beds, top-dress for lawns, as a substitute for peat and for preparing your vegetable garden.
Earthwise Society is a great advocate for backyard composting. Visit their website to find out more about their garden programs and composting.
The David Suzuki Foundation also offers: “seven super reasons to start composting.” Some of their main reasons include: keeping organic waste garbage out of the landfill. Organic waste that ends up in landfills decompose without oxygen and produce methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.