A pilot project launched by the city reached a milestone in August by collecting one million kilograms of food and yard waste.
The Green Cart program was launched back in March in the neighbourhoods of Abbeydale, Brentwood, Cougar Ridge and Southwood.
Since then garbage in the pilot communities has been almost cut in half and one million kilograms of food and yard waste has been collected.
The pilot communities saw a 44 percent decrease in garbage compared to non-pilot communities.
The city says it makes more sense to compost organic material rather than sending it to the landfill.
“When that material breaks down slowly over many decades it releases methane that is a very toxic, green house gas, so we really believe this is the best way to go,” said Waste Diversion Specialist, Lindsay Lofthouse.
The city picks up the bins weekly and takes the material to a transfer station outside the city.
From there the material is trucked to the composting facility near Strathmore.
The waste is then separated into compost piles called windrows to break down naturally.
For more information on the Green Cart Program, visit the City of Calgary website.
