Fernie residents will start seeing their new curbside organic collection bins in the coming weeks as the city gets ready to launch the new service.
Organic waste is any compostable material, such as food or yard waste, most paper products and wood shavings.
City officials said new curbside carts and kitchen bins will be delivered to residential properties in Fernie, starting on Monday, August 19.
You will also receive a guidebook about the new program, with a collection calendar and a list of what will be accepted in these new bins.
The collection program is set to start on September 23.
The new service is meant to reduce waste in the community.
“It is a change to our community waste collection process, but it does have the advantage of diverting all that good organic material that would otherwise go to a landfill,” said Mayor Nic Milligan.
However, the 120-liter bins could act as an attractant to wildlife, especially bears.
“We have ordered more robust bear-resistant carts for the organics, more robust than our waste containers,” said Milligan.
“It’s in everybody’s interest to use the organics container and keep it in a secure location until it’s ready for pickup because we recognize that we don’t want to create even more of an issue with bears.”
City officials said you should keep your bins in a secure location, such as a shed or garage, until after 5 a.m. on collection day.
Curbside garbage collection will remain on a weekly schedule for the rest of the year before switching to bi-weekly pickup, similar to Fernie’s curbside recycling.
You can learn more about the program here.
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