Strangers could be snooping around your garbage over the next four weeks.
But don’t be alarmed — they are working on behalf of the City of Red Deer to find out how well city residents are using their green carts.
Considering how much waste is already being diverted from Red Deer’s landfill by the composting program, the results of this “walking survey” will likely be pretty positive, surmises Janet Whitesell, the city’s waste services superintendent.
Landfill waste was reduced to 38 per cent of all garbage collected in Red Deer in May. This compares to about 69 per cent in May, 2017, she said.
Over the same period, organic waste collection in the city increased to about 49 per cent of the overall waste stream, compared to only about 21 per cent for yard waste collected over the month of May a year ago. (The remainder is blue box recyclables).
But Whitesell still believes it’s important to take a peek into the carts to make sure they are being used correctly.
Now that city residents have been using them for a few months, public feedback has dropped off, and she said the survey will either let people know they are doing the right thing, or correct whatever errors are being made — including educating about green cart placement.
She stressed that it’s important to leave a metre of space around all sides of the green cart so the composting truck’s mechanical arm can pick up the container safely.
The surveyors, who are summer students hired by the Recycling Council of Alberta, will leave tags stuck to the carts they inspect — either gold stars, indicating successful use, or educational pointers about what should go in the box. The contents should be organic lawn and kitchen waste, as well as grease-stained cardboard or paper.
Whitesell said the goal is to peek into the green carts of about 3,000 Red Deer household, or about 10 per cent of the city’s 30,000 households.
She said the survey results will be made public in the fall.
Next spring, blue carts will be distributed to replace the blue boxes for recyclables and black carts will be given out for landfill waste.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter