This is all about one of Life's fundamental miracles.

It has an incredibly positive impact on our environment
and our ability to create healthy soil.

And best of all, each of us has to be involved.

Whether in the garden,

In the kitchen,

or elsewhere at home,

Organic residuals can and
should be recycled.

But it goes beyond the home...

Organic residuals are also
created at the workplace,

on the Farm,

At places to eat,

and where we celebrate.

Let's all turn over a old leaf
and recycle our organics.

A VERY SPECIAL OFFER FROM HARROWSMITH

Care about growing your own food, sustainability and the environment?
Then join our community!

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at a special Compost Council partner rate of $26.00.
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Here’s a preview of the content you’ll find in Harrowsmith.

COMPOST AWARENESS WEEK May 3-9 2020

A series of Winter Workshops for our Industry

The online proceedings are coming soon!

Compost Matters in Ontario!
February 5 & 6, 2020 – Niagara Falls

Compost Matters in
Atlantic Canada!
February 19 & 20, 2020 – Kentville

Compost Matters in
British Columbia!
February 26 & 27, 2020 – Vancouver

Compost Matters in Alberta!
March 2 & 3, 2020 – Calgary

Compost Matters in
Manitoba!
March 11, 2020 – Winnipeg

Compost Matters in
Saskatchewan!
March 12 & 13, 2020 – Saskatoon

Compost Quality Alliance

The Compost Quality Alliance (CQA) is a voluntary program established by the Compost Council of Canada and the compost producers utilizing standardized testing methodologies and uniform operating protocols to improve customer confidence in compost selection and utilization.

Click here for more information

COMPOST PRODUCT QUALITY TESTING PARAMETERS

There are federal and provincial/territorial regulations and guidelines which compost manufacturers must be in compliance.

Federal:

Fertilizers Act and Regulations

Loi et règlement sur les engrais

T-4-120: Regulation of Compost under the Fertilizers Act and Regulations

T-4-120 – Réglementation du compost en vertu de la Loi sur les engrais et de son règlement d’application

Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment:

Guidelines for Compost Quality

Lignes directrices pour la qualité du compost

Please contact The Compost Council of Canada for additional provincial/territorial regulations and guidelines

Certification

CERTIFIED COMPOST FACILITY OPERATORS

The Compost Council of Canada promotes environmentally responsible and compliant operations, and endeavors to raise the level of professionalism within our industry. Certification of facility operations staff achieves this goal by providing a structured means of increasing and verifying the level of knowledge. Operator certification programs are also used by various provincial governments as part of regulatory approvals and compliance programs.

How Do Recycling and Composting Fight Climate Change?

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges we face today. What can we do about this creeping apocalypse? It turns out that there is a lot we can do. We already have many of the solutions to climate change in our arsenal, ready to go. And here is the good news: these solutions don’t have to break the bank. Many of them actually SAVE money. Take this quiz and find out what you know, and what you might not know, about the things a climate-smart, dollar-smart business can do to create a better environment for both ourselves and our descendants.

TAKE OUR QUIZ

In-Field Testing for Compostability

This document has been developed to serve as a guideline document for the real-world analysis of compostability of products and packaging when tested at actual, operational centralized composting facilities. This is currently not a requirement for certification of compostable claims as conducted in laboratory conditions utilizing established standards such as the BNQ and BPI certification for compostability.

This guideline is to help organics recycling facilities record their test for the physical decomposition of sample products/packaging.

Overview of Testing Procedure
Example of Trial Log
Working Template for Trial Log

2019 National Conference,
Guelph ON

The recent 29th!!! National Organics Recycling Conference in Guelph, ON proved its value through the outstanding array of presentations, exhibits, tours and opportunities for networking held throughout the multi-day event.

Special thanks to our important sponsors, presenters, exhibitors and tour hosts who provided the means to learn and be inspired to dig deeper and do more to ensure all Canadians understand and have the means to recycle their organics and capture their important potential to use resources wisely, tackle climate change, improve the health of our soils and build stronger local communities.

Proceedings are available here.

Mark your calendar now and plan to attend our
2020 National Organics Recycling Conference,
to be held in
Moncton, New Brunswick on
September 30th – October 2nd.

Interested in being on our email list for additional alerts. Let us know.

Valuable Resource Materials

Here’s just a few of the many great information documents to help move your organics recycling and compost programs ahead. Need something else? Touch base with us. Our Council has been helping to build the organics recycling infrastructure across Canada for nearly 30 years (and unfortunately, it is still not done) … our archives are rich in information and inspiration.

TECHNOLOGY:

Technical Document on Municipal Solid Waste Organics Processing

Biodegradable material such as food waste constitutes approximately 40% of the residential waste stream in Canada, therefore diversion of organic materials is essential to reach high diversion targets. The environmental benefits of diverting organic materials from landfill include reduced methane emissions (a potent greenhouse gas), and decreased leachate quantities from landfills. From a life-cycle perspective, other benefits, such as the production of valuable compost and renewable energy, can also be derived from the diversion of organic materials from disposal depending on the processing method selected.

… more

Alberta Compost Facility Operator Study-Guide

… download the pdf.

Best Practices For Operating An Aerated Windrow Composting Facility

This document provides the operational procedures for processing up to 2,500 tonnes per year of source-separated-organic (SSO) waste and amendment. This is equivalent to the organic waste produced from a population base of about 5,000 persons.

… download the pdf.

MARKETS:

Developing Better Technical Specifications for
Topsoil Use in Construction Projects

… more info here.

Ontario Agricultural Trials using
Greenbin-derived Compost

… more info here.

GARDENING GUIDE:

The Grow Your Veggie Garden WORKBOOK

This veggie gardening “how to” workbook has been a labour of love, written and illustrated with the passionate belief in the power of veggie gardening to provide solutions to many issues of our time.

… download here.

Keep Butterflies Happy: Plant Them an Oasis!

Yes, you can help save the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), the black-veined orange migratory butterfly that winters in Mexico and travels all the way to Canada in the summer, by planting milkweeds (Asclepias spp.). Its population has been declining for at least 50 years and if the population keeps dropping at this rate, within a generation this emblematic butterfly will no longer grace our fields and gardens. Since milkweeds are the only plants monarch butterfly caterpillars can eat, the media have run with that concept, making the solution seem so simple: plant a milkweed, save a butterfly. What could be easier?

But that’s not enough: only monarch butterfly caterpillars feed exclusively on milkweed plants. The adults feed on the nectar of a wide range of flowers and need flowers in bloom throughout the summer, yet milkweeds finish blooming in July. If we planted only milkweeds, the monarchs would starve long before they made it back to Mexico!

… more