Central Okanagan yard waste collection resumes in March

It’s almost time to get your green-lidded yard waste carts ready for another season.

Starting Monday, March 2, all residents receiving curbside garbage and recycling collection will once again benefit from yard waste pickup every two weeks until the end of December.

“It’s important to visually check the contents of your yard waste cart before collection starts again,” says Cynthia Coates, Supervisor of Solid Waste Services. “Please remove items that don’t belong, such as garbage, recycling, food waste, bags of any kind (including compostable or biodegradable plastic bags), pet waste, rocks or sod. These materials don’t belong in the composting process.”

Each year, the curbside yard waste pickup program collects close to 15,000 tonnes of yard waste. All the yard waste collected at the curb is composted and given a new life as GlenGrow, a valuable soil amendment for gardens or on lawns. Keeping carts free of plastic, garbage and other contaminants ensures a high-quality finished product.

Residents are reminded to put their yard waste cart out by 7:00 a.m. on the morning of their regular garbage day, loosen any frozen contents and avoid overloading carts.

Accepted items include:

• Leaves, tree needles
• Branches, prunings (up to 5 centimetres (2 inches) in diameter and less than one metre (3 feet) in length)
• Wood chips and bark
• Garden plants
• Fruit droppings
• Grass clippings

For additional yard waste carts and drop off options, residents should contact their municipality or visit rdco.com/yardwaste.

To find your yard waste collection weeks, download the Recycle Coach app or check out the RDCO Curbside Collection Calendar rdco.com/pickup-schedule.

Residents interested in purchasing GlenGrow compost, can visit the City of Kelowna website  or call 250-469-8868. Please note, limited quantities of finished GlenGrow are available until full production resumes mid-to-late March.

For more information visit rdco.com/wastereduction or call 250.469.6250.