Compost in Vancouver

September 6, 2010 2:29 PM

My partner and I live in a one bedroom apartment in Vancouver. How do we deal with our food waste?

My previous apartment (in Peterborough, ON) was part of a converted house. So we just put a compost bin in the back yard, and everything was ducky. Now we're in Vancouver (near Fraser and 6th), and our building has no composting setup, nor is there any real chance of one forthcoming. What can we do?

Possibly relevant information:

• we eat vegan, so all of our food waste is easily compostable - no meat or dairy to worry about.
• there seem to be a ton of community gardens near us... does anyone know if they could use the compost? If so, how could I get that happening?
• we've dabbled in verma composting, and we're not crazy about it.

That's all I can think of at the moment. If you have further questions, I'll respond in a timely fashion.

posted by ndicecco to home & garden (9 answers total)

This Slate article covers a lot of options, and one that might work for you if you aren't crazy about worms, and do have some cash, is a NatureMill. I don't have any experience with this device, so this isn't an endorsement, but I remember thinking it looked pretty darned neat.
posted by farishta at 2:34 PM on September 6, 2010

Check it out! I did a little pokin' and found a compost hotline in Vancouver:

City Farmer runs the Vancouver Regional Compost Hotline: [phone]
Email the Hotline at: [e-mail]

Now that's service! The site I got that info from has been updated to a shiny blog, but the number still appears to be working.

You could also post an ad on Craigslist looking for people nearby who would have room for your scraps. I couldn't find any ads looking for compostable materials, but keep your eye out!

Perhaps your local farmer's market or food co-op would have advice for you? I bet in a city as big as Vancouver you'll find lots of options.
posted by Fui Non Sum at 2:47 PM on September 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

PIRGs (public interest research groups) often have composting resources/info. Apparently UBC does not have a PIRG, but SFU does. You could call or send an e-mail and ask if they know of a location close to you where you could drop off your materials. (Looks like they have an on-campus compost drop-off, but I don't know if you would consider that very convenient since you don't really live near SFU.)
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:58 PM on September 6, 2010

I had good results using this set up in my 540 sq. ft. apartment:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rock_creek/811490216/
posted by ryanshepard at 3:07 PM on September 6, 2010

If your building has a yard trimmings bin, the city has started collecting uncooked fruit and vegetable scraps put in there.
posted by meadowlands at 3:25 PM on September 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

If you're trying to store the scraps until you have enough to conveniently dispose of, keep them in a bag in your freezer. They won't attract pests or smell bad that way.

And, as Meadowlands mentions, you can now include them in city yard trimming bins. Not as productive as composting but still a nice green disposal option.
posted by Pomo at 4:50 PM on September 6, 2010

Across the Strait in Victoria they have an organization called Pedal to Petal where someone with a bike trailer comes around to pick up a bucket with your food waste once every week. Perhaps you can contact them to see if they know of something similar in Vancouver.
posted by talkingmuffin at 6:39 PM on September 6, 2010

We've been trialling a bokashi composter for a while now. After about 2-3 months the thing is still only about 3/4 full, despite taking a majority of kitchen waste (packing it down tight is part of the process, and the lower stuff seems to ferment & break down at nearly the same rate as you top it up with more organic matter).

No smell or pests so far, although our particular bokashi bin has a bit of a drippy tap, so research the quality of your suppliers if you can. The compost that it produces is supposed to be good, although we haven't reached that point yet. The main benefit I can see over normal composting is that you'd only need to take the compost to the community garden / wherever every couple of months or so.

The bokashi bin itself is roughly the size of a small-medium kitchen bin; I'd estimate about 35cm square by about 50cm high, so it should fit under most kitchen sinks.
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:12 PM on September 6, 2010

The City has an apartment composting program. See http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/solidwaste/garbage/garbagetips.htm. Then you could use the compost to do some container gardening. If you don't have room to do container gardening, you could apply to adopt your boulevard or nearby traffic circle. (Did you know the City will give you free plants for that?)

I don't think the City collects compost from apartments, but they do it for houses. Maybe you can find a friendly house-dwelling neighbour, if you don't want to worm compost?
posted by acoutu at 10:29 AM on September 7, 2010