It’s easy to keep a fresh Kitchen Bin and Compost Cart. Here are some important tips to consider.

Kitchen Bin

• Line your Kitchen Bin with newspaper, brown paper bags, or use an approved compostable bag.
• All meat, bones, fish, and other wet waste must be wrapped tightly to help reduce moisture, avoid odour, and deter flies.
• Empty your kitchen bin, and rinse it on a daily basis.
• Sprinkle baking soda in the bin for freshness.

Compost Cart

• Crumple newspaper in the bottom of your Compost Cart to absorb any liquid and to stop small items from dropping through the bottom grate.
• Tightly wrap meat, bones, fish, dairy, and pet waste in newspaper to deter flies. The newspaper will provide a natural carbon filter.
• Include garden clippings, wood chips, evergreen branches, sawdust, leaves, or baking soda in your cart to act as a natural filter.
• Even if the cart is not full, always put your cart out for collection on pick-up day.
• Regularly rinse the cart with a garden hose.
• Make sure that the air vents at the bottom of the Compost Cart are kept clear. These holes enable the compostable material to receive air. Without air, the compostable material will go 'anaerobic,' which will produce nasty odours.
• Rub Vicks Vapour Rub or A535 (a muscle ointment) on the air vents on the Compost Cart to mask odours and deter animals.
• Store your Compost Cart outside in a ventilated, shaded, and convenient area, away from outdoor activity if possible.
  

How do I keep the bugs out of my cart?
By following the information listed above, especially wrapping food and pet waste, rinsing the cart, and storing it in a ventilated and shaded area. If you have a large amount of meat or fish, freeze it until compost pick-up day.

If you do get bugs in your Compost Cart, you can sprinkle garden lime in your cart. The garden lime raises the pH level, creating the wrong environment for the larva to live. After collection day, rinse the cart with a solution of water and bleach (10 parts water and 1 part bleach).

Fruit flies come into your home as eggs on fruit. When the fruit is in a warm environment like kitchens, eggs are in a perfect environment to hatch. The lifecycle of fruit flies are incredible short - only 10 days. It is important to empty your kitchen bin daily to reduce the chance that any fruit flies will hatch.

If you do get the small fruit flies in your kitchen bin, empty it as soon as possible and wash the bin. Remove all food sources from your kitchen counters, and wipe down the counter.

What about rodents, raccoons and bears?
Rodents will come if there is a strong smell. It is important to wrap all your meat, bones, and fish in newspaper. The carbon in the newspaper will act as a natural filter, reducing odours. Please call our Hotline 738-1212 if you have a problem.

Raccoons are smart and can be trouble. If your property has these critters, you already know all too well what kind of trouble they can cause. Secure the lid down by crisscrossing two bungee cords. Although we do recommend to leave the cart outside, to defend your cart from raccoons, you may have to resort to keeping it in a garage. You know your property best, do what you can and call us for support.

In rural areas, bears may be an issue in the late fall. If your property is prone to curious bears, be careful and don’t take chances. Call your local Rangers office (Phone Book - Blue Pages - Ranger Offices: Hampton 832-6055, Sussex 432-2008, Welsford 468-6000).

To deter bears follow the above guidelines to reduce odours and store your cart in your garage or shed. The most important step is to reduce odours and the above tips of wrapping food waste in newspapers, storing it in the freezer until compost collection day, and using compostable bags will help.  Keep moisture down by adding crumpled newspapers and/or yard waste to the bottom of the cart. You can also repel bears with chlorine bleach or cayenne pepper.  Wiping down the outside of your cart with a bleach solution, soaking a rag with bleach and hanging it from the handle or soaking a paper towel with bleach and adding it to your cart will make the cart unappetizing to bears.  You can also try sprinkling cayenne pepper around your cart and into your cart as bears do not like this smell. 

Remember this is all the same waste you had before composting. It is just in a different container!