Ecology North opens downtown Yellowknife compost bins

Environmental non-profit Ecology North says it is opening two downtown compost bins to let residents drop off their organics while green cart collection is suspended.

The City of Yellowknife is no longer collecting waste in green carts, focusing instead on weekly black cart collection. Residents are told to put regular waste and organics together in their black carts while the Covid-19 pandemic is ongoing.

Not everyone is happy about that. Even the city administrator, Sheila Bassi-Kellett, has acknowledged many residents are now in the habit of ensuring organics are separated.

On Wednesday, Ecology North – saying the suspended green cart service had “created concern among residents” – announced three initiatives designed to help.

The two downtown compost bins, provided in partnership with Kavanaugh Bros and Bromley & Son, will be located at 5013 50 Avenue, the site of Ecology North’s former office building. Access is through the alley next to the pop-up park site, the group said.

“Everything that could go in the green bin can be placed in these large red bins,” said Ecology North in a statement. That includes bones, meat scraps, compostable plastic, and pizza boxes.

Ecology North said it will also develop a video guide and other resources, featuring Yellowknife farmer France Benoit, to help people restart their old composting bins or build new ones.

People in apartments or condos will be able to get composting worms and a guide to using them from Ecology North.

“It may not be quite as easy or convenient as the green cart pickup, but we hope that Yellowknifers are encouraged to continue to compost in this uncertain time,” the group concluded in a Wednesday news release. “We continue to look into other options.”