About 2,000 green bins were distributed across the city’s east end near the WFCU Centre on Monday morning. “Today I just received my first green bin,” said Cat Griffin, communications coordinator for the Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority (EWSWA) while recording a promotional video. Assembly and delivery of the green bins started early Monday morning. “When you get your bin, you want to read the welcome label on it,” explained Cathy Copot-Nepszy, EWSWA Waste Diversion manager. “There’s some good information on there. Open it up because there are contents in there.” About 120,000 will be distributed in Windsor, LaSalle, Tecumseh, and Lakeshore. The first thing you’ll notice is a seven-litre kitchen catcher with a starter kit inside of it. What goes in the green bin? “It could be anything from vegetables, to fruit, to expired muffins, bread, fats, oils, grease, coffee filters, tea bags, pet and human hair, dryer lint can go in here,” said Copot-Nepszy, who pointed out if residents have been following the red and blue box program properly, what’s left is a lot of food waste. “You may have a little bit of plastic wrap or styrofoam trays in there that you can remove, but everything else, really, you should be recycling. So, you’re really already doing the program,” said Copot-Nepszy who added there is a compostable bag included in the kit. “So that we don’t get plastic film in that liquid fertilizer that we create out of the food waste after it’s collected.” The waste is processed to create a liquid fertilizer that farmers use to spray their crops. Renewable energy is also created from the waste. Another benefit of the program is the time added to the lifespan of the current landfill. “These organics programs or the green programs have been proven to help us, regionally and within the city, reduce waste anywhere from 40 to 50 per cent,” said Jim Leether, manager of environmental services with the City of Windsor. “When you think about 110,000 metric tonnes, if we can cut that in half, that just makes our landfill life cycle that much longer.” Each bin has a gravity lock to keep pests out and odours in. The bins are made in Canada with the exception of the wheel axel. Distribution will continue until October. The bins will begin being delivered to the county on Aug. 17, starting in Essex and then flowing over to Tecumseh, Lakeshore, and LaSalle. The first pickup takes place the week of Oct. 20.
