Compost

First of all, it’s important to know that buried in an underground bag, organic residues decompose without oxygen. One of the products of this decomposition is methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming and climate change, with all their deleterious effects.

What’s more, you probably know that before being a landfill, the site in question is a natural environment that needs to be deforested. By reducing what goes into the black bin, we reduce the need for landfill. So, we slow down the filling of these sites and postpone the need to create new ones, further and further away, requiring even more transport dependent on the oil industry (yes, it’s that one again!). This helps to protect our terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, our forests, the air they provide, the animals that live in them and those we hunt, our rivers and the fish we catch. 

Taking part in compost collection is a simple gesture that quickly becomes a rewarding habit. With just a little effort, you’ll be helping to preserve large areas of nature, while making a tangible contribution to the fight against climate change.

So why not give it a try? Let’s make a commitment to future generations and make a difference today!

Organic materials are collected over 32 weeks, from April to November. Brown bins are collected on TUESDAY in Odanak, every 2 weeks in April, then every week from May to the end of November

The detailed calendar is available with the recycling and waste collection calendar.

The good news is that you can still use your brown bin in winter! 

All you have to do is ensure easy collection in the spring by placing a cardboard box (unlaminated, without staples or tape) at the bottom of your bin after the last collection in November, and ideally inserting a large brown bag (as for dead leaves, there are some available at the post office every autumn) in your bin to place your residues. This will make the first collection easier, and prevent the material from sticking to the bottom of the bin.

You can therefore store up to three-quarters of your waste in the bin over winter, as it will freeze, preventing decomposition and odours until spring arrives (so avoid leaving the bin in a heated garage, for example). Even in winter, it’s a good idea to add layers of paper (newspapers or circulars, if available) between the empties of your kitchen bucket.

Why up to three quarters?

Organic matter is usually full of liquid and therefore heavy, especially when it’s only table scraps, and the residue compacts over several months. This is simply to ensure that your bin will hold up and that the truck will be able to empty it in the spring.

What do we do if our bin is three-quarters full before April?

Here are a few options:

• If you have the space, you can store bags of compost in a freezer to cover the last few weeks.
• Buy a second bin from the council at a cost of about . Exceptionally, you can put it on the road in the spring. If you see that you need a collection of two bins every week, please contact us.
• If you have land and are interested, you could set up a small home composting section for appropriate residues, while reserving the brown bin for materials that can’t be composted at home. We can help you with this.
• Finally, you may have to throw your food scraps in the garbage for a few weeks. Don’t worry, a few weeks without composting won’t negate the significant gains of your year-long efforts. Remember, if you’ve reached this point, you’ll be diverting 270 L of organic material from landfill, which is amazing!

Why no winter collection?

The Régie de gestion des matières résiduelles that manages our collection simply doesn’t offer a compost collection service during the winter. There are two main reasons for this:

• Residents bring their compost bins to the street much less frequently because of winter conditions and because odors and other inconveniences (such as insects) are virtually non-existent during this period.
• The freeze-thaw cycles we’ve seen in recent years during the winter months mean that collections are often ineffective. 

So the environmental impact of collecting compost is not significant enough compared with the impact of running trucks in winter.

1. Place your brown bin in an accessible spot, in the shade if possible.
2. Set up your kitchen bucket in an easily accessible place, ideally in a cool spot (e.g. under the sink, avoid the sunny windowsill!).
3. Consult the guide supplied with your starter kit and the sticker on the bucket for information on accepted and rejected materials. Consult the other sections of this page for tips and tricks.
4. Get into the habit of putting your leftovers in the kitchen bucket (see other sections to determine whether you use paper bags, newspaper to absorb moisture, or are more zen and go in bulk). 
5. Regularly empty your bucket into your outdoor bin, where you can also put your yard waste.
6. Each week, put out your brown bin for collection (follow the calendar in the schedule section for details).
7. Just get started, and if you run into problems, come back to this page to see if a solution to your problem is presented. If necessary, contact us before you give up!

To maximize compost quality and everyone’s efforts, it’s essential to follow the instructions provided to Odanak residents. Not all organizations operate in the same way

🡺 You can install RECYC-QUÉBEC’s “Ça va où?” application on your smartphone to help you sort your materials on a daily basis.

In the brown bin, you can dispose of organic materials only, i.e. substances derived from living matter. These materials are rich in carbon and decompose naturally thanks to micro-organisms (bacteria, fungi, etc.).

If you’re not sure, ask yourself these questions:

• Can it be eaten (or is it part of something that can be eaten)?
• Was it alive or produced by a living being?
• Did it grow?
• Is it a natural wood or paper fiber?

If you answer yes to one or more of these questions, it’s probably compostable! There are, of course, a few exceptions: see the lists below. If in doubt, contact us to find out if it’s compostable or not, especially if it’s a frequent residue in your daily routine. If you’re waiting for a validation from us, for once, it’s better to put an item in the garbage can rather than risk contaminating the compost.

 ACCEPTED materials :

• Leftovers and expired food (without packaging) ;
• Fruits, vegetables, their skins and pits, corn cobs ;
• Egg, nut and peanut shells;
• Shellfish (shrimp, lobster, crab, etc.) ;
• Bread and pasta ;
• Cooked or fresh meat, poultry, fish and seafood, bones ;
• Vegetable proteins (tofu, tempeh, processed vegetable proteins) ;
• Residues of fats, sauces and cooking oils ;
  ex: A dish that contains them, congealed leftovers, etc., but not the emptying of a domestic deep fryer. Tips: Empty expired sauce bases into the sink or basin, then dispose of the container appropriately. Large quantities of cooking oil can be taken to the Ecocentre.

• Dairy products and substitutes ;
• Ground coffee and filters, tea bags, herbal teas and infusions – remove staples if present;
• Sweets, chocolate, spreads, cakes, etc. ;
• Neutral paper and cardboard (unwaxed, unlaminated, without staples or adhesive tape) ;
  e.g. paper napkins, paper towels, tissues, flyers, newspapers, pizza boxes, neutral cardboard dishes, brown paper bags, parchment paper, etc. Tip: If the paper or cardboard absorbs fat on both sides, it’s compostable.

• Untreated, unvarnished wood and food-grade wood (utensils, skewers, toothpicks, glazed candy sticks);
• Plants, grasses, flowers, conifer needles, black earth, bark, thatch, grass clippings, dead leaves ;
  Psst! You can also practice herbicycling and leaficycling it’s even easier!

• Small branches (1/2 inch circumference and less), sawdust and wood chips, including cedar;
• Pet litter ;
  We know you wouldn’t grow tomatoes in your cat’s litter, but it’s organic and compostable! Place in bulk in the brown bin, or in a paper bag.

• Hair and feathers;
• Cooled ash minimum 72 hours.

Would you grow your tomatoes in there? No ? Chances are it won’t compost!

🡺 You can install RECYC-QUÉBEC’s “Ça va où?” application on your smartphone to help you sort your materials on a daily basis.

 NEVER EVER

• Plastic in all its forms. Plastic tableware, utensils, containers and bags, even if they are “compostable cellulose”, “biodegradable”, “oxo-biodegradableor “BPI or BNQ certified”;
  No matter how green the adjective, plastic or plastic-looking items NEVER belong in the brown bin. Compostable dishes must look like cardboard to be put in the brown bin. The only compostable bags accepted are paper ones. If you need to understand why, we’ve done a very detailed section on bags HERE.

• Rocks, street gravel, logs and stumps;
• Large branches (over 1/2 inch) ;
• Mollusc shells (oysters, mussels) ;
• Whole dead animal and debitage;
• Medicines ;
• Hygiene products (soap) and sanitary products (regular or biodegradable diapers and sanitary towels);
• Vacuum cleaner dust, dryer lint, fabric softener sheet ;
• Textiles, candles, corks ;
• Wax paper ;
• Cigarette butts;
• Hazardous and toxic products (paint, mechanical oil, pesticides, etc.) ;
  It goes to the ecocenter

• Invasive plants.
  Giant Hogweed, Ragweed, Poison Ivy, Eurasian Watermilfoil, Wild Parsnip, Exotic Warbler, Japanese Knotweed. Place in a WELL-CLOSED garbage bag and dispose of in the black bin.

The answer is yes, but only in paper. However, there’s no obligation to use bags – in fact, it’s better not to use them at all, and simply rinse out your kitchen bin.

Outline on the use or non-use of bags:

• The easiest way: put accepted materials directly into the brown bin in bulk, WITHOUT A BAG.
• Use whatever you have to wrap or base your container: flyers, newspapers, sawdust, brown paper bags, cardboard (unwaxed, without tape and/or staples). 
• Avoid any bag that looks like plastic, even if it’s marked compostable.

• Never ever: regular plastic, “biodegradable” or “oxo-biodegradablebags. 

• If you insist on using commercial bags, they must be made of paper, like those from bag-to-earth, which are leak-proof.

Details:

Unfortunately, there’s no place for plastic or plastic-looking bags. When we talk about plastic-looking bags, we’re actually talking about vegetable cellulose bags. They are labelled “compostable” and even certified by the BNQ and BPI. In practice, however, they degrade much more slowly than the food residues inside. What’s more, when knotted, the residues inside risk decomposing without oxygen, producing methane, a major greenhouse gas contributing to global warming.

At the composting center, a human or robotic visual sort is performed, and these bags are discarded, whether empty or full. They are currently considered to be compost contaminants. The presence of these bags in the compost is somewhat counterproductive. In addition to weighing down the composting chain, they risk producing undesirable gases, which is one of the reasons why people are encouraged to compost in the first place.

On the other hand, there are paper bags with a cellulose membrane inside that apparently degrade quite well (certified by BPI and BNQ) and “two-fold” bags. BAG-TO-EARTH is the preferred choice, and can be found in supermarkets and hardware stores. Other companies produce equivalents, but avoid sealing bags with adhesive tape when this option is available.

Bags with cellulose membrane: see an example.

Two-ply bags: see an example.

These bags can be expensive, so here are some lower-cost alternatives:

In your kitchen bucket:

• If you have some to hand, wrap residues in circular paper or newspaper, especially meat, poultry, fish and very wet residues, OR make a circular base in the kitchen bucket, then alternate layers of residues and circulars.
• Use thin brown paper bags (“sandwich bagtype), brown takeaway bags or paper grocery bags. Just be sure to remove the staples.

In the outdoor brown bin :

• After collection, place a large 110 L brown paper bag (the same as for dead leaves) in the bottom of the brown bin. You can also place blank cardboard in the bottom of the brown bin (unwaxed, unlaminated cardboard, without staples or tape).

These inconveniences can be avoided with a few simple tricks, especially in very hot weather:

• Keep your planter in the shade;
• Place a cardboard box at the bottom of your brown bin and place newspaper or other residual brown paper between your food waste deposits;
• You can make a paper wrap around the more fragrant or moist residues;
• Rinse your bins regularly with water and vinegar;
• Avoid excess liquid;
• Sprinkle baking soda or lime from time to time in your bin;
• Keep the lid closed;
• Place your bin at the curb at every collection, even if it’s not full;
• Regularly transfer your kitchen bin to the outside bin;
• If you have the space, it’s always possible to keep certain residues in the fridge or freezer and put them in the bin the day before collection.

If you already have worms in your bin, use coarse salt and vinegar to remove them. Rinse well afterwards.

This question generally applies to paper and cardboard materials. Indeed, an egg carton or brown paper is recyclable AND compostable.

So, what’s the answer? 

It depends on whether the material is soiled or not. If the material is clean, we put it in the recycling bin. If the material is soiled (traces of grease, food residues on it, etc.), we put it in the compost bin

Compost collected in Odanak is sent to the Gaudreault composting platform in Saint-Rosaire. This is a “windrow” type of composting, mechanically turned over an open area. Turning organic materials as they decompose implies the presence of oxygen in the process, a major difference from landfilling, where materials decompose without oxygen. This difference is important because the presence of oxygen prevents the generation of harmful greenhouse gases such as methane. Once decomposed, organic matter is transformed into compost, which is used to nourish the soil.

It is not possible to return a bin. Composting is a social responsibility for future generations. Composting is sound waste management, just like using the blue bin for recycling and the black bin for final waste. To get started with composting, start with simple, intuitive materials such as garden residues. In the kitchen, start with foods that don’t have strong or sweet odors (vegetable peelings and trimmings). Then gradually introduce other materials as you become more familiar with what’s accepted. Position your bucket and bin for easy access. Changing a habit can take time, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself and start gradually. Every little bit helps 🙂

Contact us, you can get a second wheeled bin for about $120.

You can glue it back on, fix it with Velcro, or get a new filter free of charge by contacting us. It’s also possible to have a lid without a hole and without a filter.

Try leaving grass clippings on your lawn. This technique reduces the amount of work involved and provides your lawn with many nutrients. You can also mow fallen leaves in autumn!

For these practices to work well, it’s advisable to have a mulching blade on the mower, and to pass over it regularly: avoid having an excessively long lawn, and pass over fallen leaves as soon as there are enough to make it relevant. Too thick a layer of dead leaves (especially when wet and compacted) will hinder mulching.

In the end, it’s a lot less work!

Good news: you already know how to compost!

Brown bin collection complements home composting. Some residues are best avoided in home composting (meat, poultry, rhubarb, etc.), but these can go in the brown bin. You may also sometimes have too much yard waste for your domestic compost, so you can put it in the brown bin.

You can apply a little cough ointment around your bin or over the air holes.