Nelson City Council recently discussed whether or not the community should participate in the Regional District of Central Kootenay’s (RDCK) program for curbside composting.
A recommendation not to participate came from staff which referenced previous council conversations that favour a “made in Nelson” approach to community composting that would involve education and subsidized residential on-site compositing containers. Councillor Brittny Anderson urged her fellow councillors to wait and at least hear the RDCK out.
“The RDCK has a meeting that we’ve been invited to on February 20 as an information session and I suggested that we remove that from the recommendation and that we until we receive all of the information from the regional district before we made a decision and council voted in favour of that decision.”
Anderson feels that organic waste diversion is an important step for the community and wants to obtain as much information as possible.
“I think that’s it’s really important that all the councillors have as much information as possible so that they’re able to make an informed decision. There’s definitely been talk around the table about innovation and trying to find creative solutions and I think that’s really wonderful. That also means we need as much information as possible. I’m really looking forward to getting that.”
Part of the alternative recommendation from City staff was to allocate $20,000 from the recycling reserves to fund public education and a staff position regarding household composting.