Conversations with Growing City

I absolutely love watching Dragon's Den, especially when there are amazing new innovations or services that have the potential to make major changes. Back in January of 2013, a company called Growing City made their sales pitch to the dragons. Green Earth Organics member and Growing City employee, Genevieve, agreed to speak with us about this fast growing company and the impact they've had on improving our planet.

Can you tell me a little about what Growing City does?

Of course! Growing City is an Organics and Recycling service provider. In a nutshell, we provide offices, restaurants, hotels, cafés as well as commercial and residential buildings organics and recycling collection services.

How has Growing City evolved since we saw you on Dragon’s Den?

Oh boy! Well, for one, I was hired as the first full-time sales manager in order to manage the influx of requests we got from that first appearance on the show. After that, we were able to hire 2 more staff members for our operations side of things, one driver and one operations manager. And, at the beginning of this year we also added a new vehicle to our fleet. So needless to say, things are going great!

So, break it down for me. What happens to the organic waste after you pick it up?

After we collect your organics, our driving team brings the materials to one of [your city's] approved organics processing facilities. We’ve been working with Enviro-Smart Organics and they’re great! At the facility, our load gets weighed and then dumped into a pile in order to start the composting process. The materials get turned every once in a while and, after a few months, you have nutrient rich soil which is distributed... to farmers who will grow more fruits and vegetables to go into your client’s bins. We literally come back full-circle, so neat!

What is the best way for the average person to get started?

Growing City is currently only just in the Metro Vancouver area, but the company is looking for partners in Alberta and the rest of Canada as well, so that soon everyone can take advantage of composting whether at home or at work.

Absolute best way is to contact us. There are a few ways you can do that:

Send us a request online: http://www.growingcity.com/get-started-free-quote-today

Call us: 1-855-WE-COMPO (932-6676)

Send us an email: info@growingcity.ca

Tweet to us: @GrowingCity

Send us a note on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/yourGrowingCity 

Following is for Metro Vancouver Members:

Does Growing City have any suggestions to help people living in cities or buildings without a compost service?

Yes of course! The City of Vancouver has extended collection to apartment buildings that already have city provided waste hauling services so, if you’re one of those, send them a note to get your green bin. If your building is not eligible for then, that’s where we come in.

Just contact us through the channels noted above, whether or not you’re on strata council, we can help you get them on board!

Metro Vancouver has a ban on organics at their landfills coming into effect January in 2015. How do you think this will affect residents of Vancouver and their neighbors?

From the last meeting we had with Metro Vancouver, this is what will happen in January 2015:

The accepted threshold for organics in a load of garbage will be 5%

The garbage haulers who go over this 5% threshold will be fined 50% of their regular tipping fee (108$ /metric tonne at the moment)

Metro Vancouver will begin giving out fines as of June 2015

Since it will be difficult for haulers to determine which clients are contaminating their loads, the thought is that the fines will be redistributed among all of their clients, unless it can be shown that an organics program is already in place. 

So although this ban will not impact residents directly, the costs will end up coming back to them indirectly. We say, better safe than sorry, call us today so we can get you to start recycling your food scraps.

Gardening with Cooking Waste!

Re-purpose used tea leaves

The next time you steam or boil some veggies, don't just dump the water down the drain! Let the water cool down and then use it to water your plants. The nutrients that have boiled off of your veggies provide great food for them and you'll be amazed at how much more lively they look without needing to buy nutrients or add fertilizers. As an added bonus, save the remains from coffee ground and tea bags to sprinkle across the top soil around azaleas, rhododendrons, camelias, gardenias, and blueberries. All these plants prefer slightly acidic soil, so by spreading the leaves and grounds (about 1/4 inch deep) you'll can adjust the pH of the soil to suit them. HGTV

Vancouver Launches Compost Pick-Up

On Earth Day last month, the city of Vancouver launched the first phase of its new compost pick-up program. For all the details, see Vancouver's food scraps page, but here's how to get started:

Getting started

Get a small container with a lid for your kitchen. You can use an ice cream bucket or large yogurt container, or purchase a metal container (I prefer that; no smells caught in the container like with plastic). Make sure it's a size you can comfortably carry and is easy to wash. Whenever you have any of the accepted food scraps, put them in the container. Empty your kitchen container in your yard trimmings cart regularly.

What can be included in the compost pick-up

Only these food items will be collected for now:
- uncooked fruit and vegetable scraps
- coffee grounds and filters
- teabags
- eggshells

Please note: Newspaper or brown paper bags are accepted if they are being used to wrap food scraps or to line your kitchen container or cart.

Please do not add cooked food to your yard waste. Oils and other ingredients make cooked food more susceptible to odours, pests, and insects. Because the first phase of the program stays with the bi-weekly yard trimmings collection schedule, it's best to only put uncooked fruit and vegetables in your cart.

It's important that you only place approved materials in your yard trimmings cart, as contamination from non-recyclables prevents the waste from being turned into nutrient-rich topsoil. Contaminated materials need to be separated, at an extra cost, before being composted.

Coming soon: A second phase of food scraps collection will be introduced in 2011 where all food scraps (fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy, bread, cereal products, and food-soiled paper) will be allowed. When this is introduced, it is expected that yard waste will be picked up weekly and regular garbage pick-up will move to only bi-weekly.

If you already compost

If you already have a backyard composter, keep using it. It's still the best way to compost since it saves on collection costs and energy use. If you are interested in obtaining a backyard compost container, you may purchase one at the Vancouver South Transfer Station. Another great way to go, especially if you want to compost cooked food and don't have the yard space for a backyard unit, is bokashi composting.

Businesses and multi-unit buildings

At this time, this collection service will not be provided to multi-unit residences such as apartments and condominiums, unless your building already has a city yard trimmings cart, and only if the cart is filled mostly with yard trimmings and a small percentage of food scraps. Vancouver is not able to provide food scraps collection service to businesses. The city is compiling a list of a private companies that can provide food waste collection services to your building.