Organics recycling begins April 1!

Here’s a list of what you can put into the new organics recycling bin: 

Food scraps

• Dairy products, including cheese and yogurt
• Egg shells
• Fruit and vegetable scraps
• Meat, bones, fish, and seafood shells
• Noodles, rice, beans, grains, and bread
• Small amounts of oil and fat (soaked in paper towel or newspaper)
• Teabags, coffee grounds, and filters
• Tissue paper (no blood or fecal matter)

Food-soiled paper products

• Empty cereal boxes (no plastic liners)
• Paper bags (for lining kitchen containers, such as Bag-to-Earth)
• Paper napkins
• Parchment and wax paper
• Pizza boxes
• Newspaper (for wrapping food scraps or lining kitchen containers)
• Used paper dishes (no plastic coating)

Yard trimmings

• Leaves and grass clippings
• Short branches and prunings (under 10 cm thick and 50 cm long)
• Weeds, plants, and flowers

Here’s a list of what you CAN NOT put into the new organics recycling bin: 

Fecal matter

• Animal waste
• Diapers

Large or heavy items

• Branches or prunings over 10 cm thick and 50 cm long
• Lumber or other wood products
• Rocks, soil, or sod

Plastics

• Compostable or biodegradable plastic bags
• Plastic bags, wrap, or containers

You can purchase (or use something you already have on hand) a plastic container with a lid to collect your food scraps in your unit. When it’s full, bring it down to the recycling room and dump it into the yellow organics recycling bins. These large bins will be picked up once a week.

Here is an example of the kind of container you can use (this one cost $5 from Ikea):

 

To keep cleaning to a minimum, you will want to line your bin with scraps of newspaper or you can purchase bags that are certified compostable. You can find and entire list of these bags, and where you can purchase them, here.