Ottawa's Greening With Green Bins

I have always been proud that my neighborhood of Park Slope Brooklyn, is considered the greenest neighborhood in New York City. But one thing it lacks, and all of NYC in general, is municipal composting. Many cities across the country and world have starting composting city wide. Compost is picked up along with the regular trash by the city. Composting is a powerful tool in fighting global warming, as it prevents the creation of methane in landfills. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 21 times more potent than CO2 and is responsible for almost half the global warming impacting our climate today. Click here to read about more ways you can prevent methane from hurting the planet and here to learn more about composting.

When I learned that Ottowa, Canada is launching a municipal composting this winter, I have to admit, I was jealous! The city is handing out green bins for composting organic matter. Not only are they doing a great thing to reduce trash, prevent methane, and create wonderful nutrient rich soil, they are also trying to make it fun for residents to learn about how to compost correctly. Take the Green Bin challenge and see how you score against other composters in this fun game. Then learn how to make a liner for your recycling bin out of old newspapers!