Vert-à-Go

The Cyclones Road and Track Club is once again selling cow manure as a fundraiser for the next 4-6 weeks. I got a delivery of it last year and it was a great soil amender, very well-composted with no smell. It’s also a great chance to support these dedicated and talented Saskatoon athletes!

Prices

• buy 1 bag for $10
• get free delivery on orders of 5 bags or more
• with an order of 10 bags, you’ll get one free (so 11 bags for $100)
• 1/2 yard bulk (unbagged) is $50, full yard is $100

To order, drop by their table at the Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings or call Rick on 955-1986 or 229-1086. For bulk delivery, call Ben on 241-3119.

The City of Saskatoon’s two free compost depots reopen today. The first depot is located on McOrmond Drive just north of 8th St E, and the other on Highway 7 across from 11th Street. The depots will be open from 11am-7pm on weekdays, and from 9am to 5pm on weekends.

As of this year, the landfill will no longer accept loads of unbagged leaves and grass. All clean loads of leaves and grass must be taken to the compost depots. The depots will also accept tree and shrub material this year. You must cut branches and tree trunks that are greater than 4 inches in diameter into sections no longer than 24 inches before drop-off. Due to the threat of Dutch Elm Disease, elm tree cuttings/branches cannot be accepted and must be disposed of at the landfill.

You can get more information on the city’s composting programs on their web site (search under “c” for compost depots) or by calling 975-2486.

Me, I’m greedy about my yard waste. Whether it’s leaves, grass clippings, or the many and varied dead bits from the garden, I throw it all onto my compost heap or pile it onto my vegetable beds for mulch. It’s way too valuable to throw into the garbage, although a shocking percentage of Saskatoon’s garbage cans are filled to the brim with yard waste throughout the spring, summer, and fall. Throwing this organic matter into the landfill is a huge wasted opportunity to help build healthy soil, and also contributes to some of the most harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

If you aren’t able to compost your yard waste on your own property, check out the City of Saskatoon’s Leaves and Grass Collection program, which will expand this year to add 1,000 additional subscribers:

The program will be available to a limited number of subscribers in early May. Participants in the program will receive a green individual roll-out cart to collect their unbagged leaves, grass clippings and non-woody vegetation [ed: tree branches, etc, will NOT be picked up]. The carts will be emptied by City crews every two weeks from May to early November. A schedule of collection dates will be provided to participants in April.

To register, fill out the application form by 15 April. You can also get a form by calling 975-2486. The cost of the program is $40.

If you aren’t in the program but still want to take your yard waste elsewhere for composting, the City of Saskatoon also operates public composting sites starting in April. Unbagged grass clippings and leaves can be taken to the McOrmond Drive Compost Depot (approximately 0.5 km north of 8th Street, next to the off-leash dog area) and the Highway 7 Compost Depot (on the west side of the 11th Street junction) free of charge (watch for the signs).

But don’t forget that composting your own waste is the easiest option of all! For information on how to get started, see the Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council’s informative compost resource pages. Your garden will thank you when you give it a dose of that lovely rich black compost!

I confess that I do struggle against climate dread. Any new news about the environment is very seldom good news, and it is demoralising beyond belief to walk home from the farmers’ market with a bag of locally grown organic food, only to be blown past by someone chucking a McDonald’s wrapper out of the window of their Hummer.

But we can’t sit around and do nothing, even if somewhere out there our evil twin is itching to replace every ounce of carbon that we struggle not to emit. And the food that we choose to eat can make a real and instant difference to our ecological impact. Here are a dozen things you can do right now to radically reduce your food footprint. Most of them will save you money and improve your health, too! I’ll be putting up detailed posts about each item in the series soon.

1. Eat less meat

2. Grow some food to eat this year

3. Eat seasonal, locally-produced food

4. Eat organic food, preferably locally-produced

5. Choose fair trade food products

6. Only eat fish and seafood from safe and sustainable fisheries

8. Reduce your consumption of industrially-produced/processed/fast food

7. Walk, bike, bus or carpool to the store, market, or restaurant

9. Plan your meals ahead and keep track of leftovers to avoid food waste

10. Drink tap water, not bottled water, and don’t forget the carbon/water footprint of other drinks too

11. Compost your food waste

12. Use more energy-efficient ways to cook your food

…and check out Reiko’s Bento Lab–just because I guarantee it will make you smile!