The city has struggled for years to increase usage of the green bin. A recent social media post I made about the green bin resulted a multitude of tips from Ottawa residents on how they have successfully adopted the green bin as a way of life and dealt with the “ick factor”.
Here are a few of their suggestions:
- Freezing scraps leading up to pick-up day and putting the scraps in the night before
- Keep your green bin indoors and out of direct sunlight to prevent “cooking” of compost
- Use lawn clippings and plant matter to cover scraps to reduce the smell
- Use old cardboard or cereal boxes to encase scraps – then place them in the bin
- Put weeds at the bottom of compost bin so your scraps will have less likelihood of sticking to the bottom
- Use compostable bags to hold your scraps
- Mix in used coffee grinds to reduce the amount of smell from your green bin
- Waxed cups and paper cups are able to hold scraps as a container and are allowed in the green bin
- Wrapping your scraps in newspaper and mail flyers
