What material can go in the green bin?
The following organic waste materials will be accepted in the green bin when collection begins in January 2010:
Food waste or scraps:
- Baking ingredients, herbs and spices
- Bread, cereals, crackers and grains
- Candy and gum
- Chips, popcorn and nuts
- Coffee grounds and filters
- Cookies, cakes, muffins and pastries
- Dairy products (cheese, sour cream)
- Dough
- Eggs and egg shells
- Fruits and vegetables
- Jams, Jellies, Marmelades/chutney
- Leftover cooking oils, lard, shortening, fat, butter and margarine
- Meat, fish, shellfish, poultry, pork bones and scraps
- Nuts and shells
- Pasta, beans, rice and couscous
- Peanut butter
- Pet food
- Pits (all types)
- Salad dressing, mayonnaise, vinegar, sauces, marinades, dips and gravy
- Seeds
- Tea and tea bags
Yard waste:
- Branches, twigs and hedge trimmings
- Leaves
- Plants and weeds
- Grass clippings
Other acceptable items:
- Animal bedding (e.g. bird and hamster cages)
- Barbeque Ashes
- Butcher’s meat wrap
- Cold fireplace ash
- Cotton balls
- Dryer lint
- Floor sweepings, vacuum bags and vacuum contents
- Food-soiled paper towels, napkins and tissues
- Food-soiled pizza boxes (pizza boxes should not go in black bins
- Household plants, including soil
- Kitty litter and other pet waste (without the plastic bag)
- Microwave popcorn bags
- Paper coffee cups, plates and muffin wrappers
- Pet fur, hair and feathers
- Soiled paper, boxboard and cardboard
- Sugar, flour and potato paper bags
- Waxed paper, cardboard and cold drink cups
- Wooden popsicle sticks and toothpicks
- Wood chips, sawdust and untreated wood scraps (less than four inches in any dimension)
What about pet waste?
Cat litter and pet waste can go in the green bin. Wrap the feces in absorbent paper, a paper bag/liner or cardboard box (not plastic bags) and put in the green bin. The pet waste shouldn't be more than 10 per cent of the volume of the bin.
NOT ALLOWED in the green bin:
- Plastic bags of any kind (even the compostable varieties aren’t allowed)
- Diapers and sanitary products (as they contain plastics)
