By some estimates, 20-30 percent of household waste can be diverted from landfills through the use of home composting efforts. That’s a huge amount of garbage that you can personally help keep out of the waste stream—with less effort than you’d think.
What you need
You technically need nothing to get started except a small piece of your yard. You can begin a compost heap right now. But most people do prefer to keep their organics contained in a composting bin.
What goes in?
There are two main types of organics that can be put into your compost bin: greens and browns. Greens are wet materials rich in nitrogen, including vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags and leaves, fresh grass clippings, and plant trimmings from your garden. Browns are generally dry and rich in carbon, including dry leaves, wood chips and sawdust from untreated wood, dried grass clippings, shredded paper, egg and nut shells, hair and animal fur, paper towels, and paper tubes.
How to compost
Simply toss your green and brown organic material into the bin! You generally want to aim for about a 50/50 mix of green and brown material. Chop your materials into small pieces to help it break down faster. Always cover your layer of green material with a layer of brown material to cut down on flies and mask odours.
Fredericton Municipal Compost Facility
The Fredericton Municipal Compost Facility accepts compostable materials, such as yard waste, small brush, leaves and grass clippings.
The following are not accepted:
- meat or animal products
- plastic bags (only compostable bags are accepted)
- litter
- brush larger than 8 cm
- wood
Hours of operation
- Monday to Friday
- 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
- May - October
Located at the end of Beek Court, off Vanier Industrial Drive.