City of Calgary offers new composting ‘giveaway’ days in May 2018

As the warm weather rolls in, the city of Calgary is offering a new composting giveaway that utilizes the material collected through the green-cart program.

Every Saturday in May, Calgarians can go to the Calgary Compost Facility and pick up free compost to help their spring gardens get the start they need.

The program is completely self-serve, so gardeners must bring a shovel, gloves and containers to hold the 100-litre limit.

All loads must be covered when leaving the composting facility, so bringing a tarp is recommended for truck owners.

Each person can only visit the facility once per Saturday, but a little compost will go a long way, the city said in a press release.

READ MORE: Calgary home to biggest-of-its-kind composting facility in Canada

The compost is created in a facility from the waste that is put into residential green carts.

Calgarians have responded better than expected to the composting program, with 30 per cent more material being contributed than expected, the city said in a press release.

The city is expecting large crowds, but said there is no lining up at the facility until five minutes before 9 a.m. each Saturday. No trailers or commercial vehicles will be allowed.

The first giveaway is May 5 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Calgary Compost Facility on 12111 68 St. S.E. and will run every Saturday after that for the month of May 2018.

For full details on times and locations, click here

With files from Doug Vaessen