Haliburton County residents can now join a pilot program to reduce their household food waste.
Korey McKay, County Climate Change Coordinator, says households can sign up to get a subsidized FoodCycler machine, an odourless indoor composter.
“The FoodCycler is a machine about the size of a bread-making machine that dehydrates and grinds food waste, and results in a by-product that can be used in the garden,” says McKay. “There are 500 units available, so if more than 500 households register, then we will do a draw to see who can participate.”
According to McKay, there are two units available, a $100 model that can handle the food waste of one to two people, and a $200 model of similar size with roughly double the capacity. The machines are normally four to five times more expensive, but these units are subsidized by the county.
Participating residents will be asked to track their usage of the machine for 12 weeks and complete a survey about their experience afterwards, but will be allowed to keep their machine.
“About half of household waste is food waste, and this will reduce the amount of food waste that goes to our landfill sites,” says McKay. “So the major goals here are to extend the life of our landfills by keeping food waste out of our landfills, as well as reducing our local greenhouse gas emissions.”
Depending on how this trial run goes, McKay says the county could expand the program in the future and get more units for residents.
Registration closes March 17. You can apply to the program on the County of Haliburton website.