Green thumbs up from households having food and yard waste collected by City of Regina

Households that have had their food and yard waste collected by the City of Regina for the past six months through a pilot program are giving it a green thumbs up.

The compost that has resulted from the program is available between May 7 and 10 to anyone in Regina who visits the Yard Waste Depot off Fleet Street. Bring a shovel and containers to get a limited quantity of the compost.

Households participating in the program can get some earlier on Saturday and Sunday.

The food and yard waste program collects from 2,800 households in neighbourhoods across Regina, turning the waste into nutrient-rich compost. Those selected to participate were given a green cart and a kitchen pail. Materials in their green carts are picked up weekly while their garbage is collected every two weeks.

More than 80 per cent of participants say they are strongly satisfied with the program. Eighty per cent use the cart for their yard and food waste, with 300 tonnes of food and yard waste being collected so far. This has resulted in a reduction of nearly 30 per cent in what ends up in the garbage.

However, the program still needs some work. About a third of participants agree there are challenges to be addressed over the next six months of the pilot. What those challenges are is not described by the city in its news release.

Participants have a bit of work to do too. The program has found about two per cent of the material in the green cart is not acceptable, such as plastic bags and foil.

The program is expected to go citywide in 2023. Council will consider recommendations for how the program will be funded after the pilot ends and before the program goes city-wide.