Green Grocer Helps Environment and the Bottom Line

Businesses are discovering composting helps the bottom line as well as the environment.

A good example is what's happening these days at the IGA at Mic Mac Mall in Dartmouth. Rather than wait for a provincial ban on compostable organics to take effect in November, storeowners Bruce and Heather Barbour decided to start composting now.

After looking at their garbage, they quickly found out 75 per cent of their waste was organic and could be easily composted.

"It's amazing to me that someone never thought of this sooner," said Mr. Barbour. "It's easy to do, and we save money at the same time."

The reason for the savings is simple. Tipping fees for garbage in the Halifax Regional Municipality is now $100 per tonne and expected to rise. Tipping fees for compostable organics, however, is half that price.

Hauling of the Barbours' waste is done by Kevin Clowater of Royal Disposal. Given the price at the municipality's transfer station, Mr. Clowater is ecstatic about the opportunities for composting.

"I can offer far better prices for hauling organics than I can for regular garbage, thanks to the new composting facility in Sackville," said Mr. Clowater.

For Royal Disposal and IGA, choosing a place to compost the organics was simple. The Good Earth Organic Resources Ltd. has been making compost for the past year. Its success is due to a group of dedicated partners who don't mind getting their hands dirty.

"We are compost manufacturers, not waste managers," said Shelley Wilcox of Good Earth. "It just so happens that the materials we need to make compost is the same organic material being banned from disposal. We also happen to be in the unique position of being open for business ahead of the provincial ban."

Because of their approach, Ms. Wilcox and her partners have developed a process both practical and efficient. Designed by themselves, their operation offers lower tipping fees for pure organics than for garbage sent to the landfill.

What is driving Halifax Regional Municipality and the rest of the province toward composting is a ban on the disposal of organics beginning Nov. 30, 1998.

"Composting has many benefits," said Barry Friesen, solid waste-resource manager for the Department of the Environment. "Organic waste is primarily responsible for leachate and greenhouse gas emissions from our landfills. It is also made up of over 50 per cent moisture, which makes it a poor fuel for incinerators.

"By composting, we avoid the disposal problems and create a natural treasure -- compost. We also create sustainable jobs in the process."

But to Bruce and Heather Barbour, most of this is unimportant. To them, doing the right thing at an affordable price is the main goal.

"We are now doing our part for the environment," he said. "It's easy and we are saving money. It's just common sense."