Yesterday, we went on a field trip to see the city's Composting Facility and Landfill. There are actually 3 landfills all in the city of Calgary! Here are some things we learned at each site from Larissa:
Composting Trip
- biofibre (waste from showers and sinks) is mixed with wood chips first because it's so wet and heavy
- biofibre (waste from showers and sinks) is mixed with wood chips first because it's so wet and heavy
- Food and Yard Waste arrives on the tipping floor
- It is sorted to make sure everything is organic (a giant magnet takes out any pieces of metal, a vacuum blows out the plastic and then people pick out other non-organics).
- It gets up to 55 degrees to kill off germs that can be harmful to people (in the "vessel").
- It is turned every 5 days and oxygen and water are added to help it decompose faster.
- It stays 3 weeks in the curing shed... so in 60 days it is decomposed (where as it would take a few years in nature)
- There is a biofilter where bacteria "eat" away the odour so it doesn't smell.
- The city gives compost away for free for you to use in your yards! :) Just book an appointment online.
- A solar farm helps the whole process work. There are approximately 11 000 panels; it powers 30% of the facility.
 |
| The Composting Steps |
 |
| Sorting garbage into: Compost, Recyclables, Donation bin, Hazardous Waste, etc. |
Landfill Trip
- leachate - the chemical-filled water that comes out after rain water goes through the garbage: this is harmful to humans so it is caught under the landfill in a layer of plastic that costs $ 3 million!
- black bin (garbage), blue bin (recycling), green bin (compost)
- methane 25x stronger than carbon dioxide gas relating to climate change so the city burns it
Here's a video we watched to learn more (click here).
Did you know? It takes 95% more energy to make new aluminum and tin than recycling old!
It takes 70% more energy to make new plastic than recycling old!
It takes 40% more energy to make new glass than recycling old!
Did you know?
You can tell if plastic can be recycled because it:
- has a triangle symbol on the bottom
- is stretchy
Did you know?
The City of Calgary now has a bike donation program where you can drop off used and broken bikes to be fixed and donated? It all started when someone noticed bikes being dumped in the landfill.
 |
| These are fridges and freezers. They have the date written on them from when they were dropped off. The freon needs to be pumped out because it can harm the Earth. |
Student Quotes
"It was cool to learn where the garbage went so when you put it in the bin it doesn't just magically go away." ~ Clover
"When we went there, I realized that compost smelled worse than the dump because it has things that should be reused instead." ~ Charlie
"I found it interesting to find out how garbage was sold as soil." ~ M
"I liked the experience of going to the compost and landfill so I get to see. Some people don't get the chance to see." ~ Arsh
"I learned that it's not the food waste that smells bad, it's when it's decomposing." ~ Keagan
"I liked learning about the process of how they decompose the compost. They put it through the vessel and the whole process of turning it into soil." ~ Nolan
"I thought it was cool how we got to see the Trash Master." ~ Olivia
"It was really cool that there were 11 000 solar panels but it only powers 30% of the facility." ~ Aarav
"I didn't ever know that the metal and plastic is taken away from the compost in a really cool way. For example, the metal is taken out by magnet and the plastic is taken out by vacuum because it is light. I found it really interesting to know." ~ Kashvi
"I found it cool to have a big magnet so they could take out the metal." ~ Abbey
"It's really cool to see the warmness that is passing through the concrete wall of the vessel." ~ A
"I thought it was really cool to see how many bikes get thrown out at the landfill." ~ Alice
"You can take the recycling and then make other things." ~ V
