I’m currently an undergraduate student at McGill University in Montréal, Canada. I live in a residence linked to the school. It is a hotel-style building with no composting system in place (only recycling and garbage).
As Vice-President Environment of my building, I am determined to set up some composting system for the building. Therefore, I’m looking for ideas on how to set this up (ideas to make collecting from each floor efficient and not-smelly) and how to encourage busy students to properly recycle/compost.
Any past experiences/stories would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!
Are you looking to have something set up onsite? Or are you just looking go get the community engaged in being responsible for their contributions to the waste stream?
One of the big logistical considerations of composting in Canada, or any temperate area is winter composting. If you are thinking about composting on site the issues of sub freezing temperature will creep in sooner or later. Once the compost pile freezes its game over for the rest of the winter.
Does Montreal have a green bin program? I think most Ontario towns have a green bin program to collect compostable waste and take it to regional composting sites. These sites are so large that the compost is able to keep itself warm and active during the winter months. If you have one maybe the best bet would be to advocate for the use of the system within your residence.
If you are looking to set up a composting program inside the building you could look into the rotary composters that are designed to be used in apartment buildings. They are usually small, contained units made to be used by a single family. These are most commonly kept on balconies to keep any unwanted odours outside. Freezing is still an issue but at least then most of your work is being done by the residents, ie. you would be only having to collect the decomposed matter instead of the raw food.
Depending on amount of waste a bio-digester maybe an option. It will convert organic waste into methane and digestate. I’m still experimenting at home and need to seal my unit correctly so I can collect the gas and allow the digestate to syphon for use in the garden (similar to work tea). Meat scraps, bread, dairy can all be processed apparently via anaerobic bacteria.
Hi Jegor.
The idea – it’s nothing new – is to have earthworms eat waste biomass and produce worm compost. This is possible from a few grams to several kilos per day, depending on the size of your composter and the number of worms therein.
I’m sharing some info about it on my website Nordicworming.com. Please have a look over there. And the booklet I mentioned is really informative.
Cheers
Olivier
What about running some vermicomposting bins in the building’s basement? Space requirements are minimal and you’ll get something really useful out of it…
We’re building indoor and outdoor worm composters here in Finland and it’s working nicely even throughout the winter (with proper insulation of course).
The Organic Agriculture Center of Canada released a little booklet called Manual of On-Farm Vermicomposting and vermiculture. It’s intended for farmers, but there is a lot of interesting infos about the subject.
I can also provide more info should you be interested…
