This summer, two groups of residents in the West End and Olympic Village are joining other high-density Vancouver neighbourhoods in a community effort to divert organics from the landfill by creating new Food Scraps Drop Spots.
The West End Neighbourhood Food Network and Village Vancouver are collecting food scraps from 10am‐1pm on Saturdays at a Drop Spot at the West End Community Centre. Residents in the Olympic Village can drop off this scraps between 6-8pm on Tuesday evenings at their Food Scraps Drop Spot at the Olympic Village Plaza in South East False Creek. Both initiatives result from a partnership with local recycling company Recycling Alternative and benefit from Neighbourhood Small Grants awarded by the Greenest City Fund created by the Vancouver Foundation and the City of Vancouver.
The addition of West End and Olympic Village Drop Spots brings the total number of Vancouver Drop Spots currently operating to four, counting the existing Trout Lake and West End Farmers Market Drop Spots , which began in partnership with Vancouver Farmer’s Markets last year. Food Scraps Drop Spots offer residents of apartment and condo buildings a real option for recycling food scraps (composting) as these buildings are not currently included in the curbside food scraps pick-up and composting service provided by the City of Vancouver. Using the Drop Spots , residents who otherwise throw out their organic waste can now take their week’s worth of food scraps to their local Drop Spot for composting, and for a $2 donation, do their part to keep organics out of the landfill and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
To date, Food Scraps Drop Spots have received over 6,000 drops and diverted more than 22 tonnes of organic materials from the landfill. Those food scraps get turned into top soil and soil amendment for the local gardening, landscaping and farming markets. In addition to providing an option for multi-‐tenant food scraps diversion, the Drop Spots have become an engaging and effective forum for community dialogue, public awareness and education of all things related to waste, food scraps, recycling and our local food cycle!
Click Below for Locations and Times:
Drop Spot Locations
West End Farmers Market
1100 Block of Comox Street across from Nelson Park at Mole Hill Until October 20, 2012 Saturdays, 9am – 2pm web: eatlocal.org
Trout Lake Farmers Market
North Parking Lot of John Hendry Park at Trout Lake Between Templeton and Lakewood south of the 13th Avenue Alley Until October 20, 2012 Saturdays, 9am – 2pm web: eatlocal.org
West End Community Centre
870 Denman St, at the corner of Haro Saturdays, 10am – 1pm web: foodwestend.wordpress.com
Olympic Village
Village (Bird) Plaza, Athletes Way at Manitoba St Tuesdays, 6pm – 8pm Until September 25 contact: villagefoodscraps@gmail.com web: villagetrashtalk.tumblr.com
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Yuri Artibise is a public policy analyst and social media specialist. Through his Yurbanism brand, he explores the ‘Y’ of urbanism by sharing ways to make our cities more livable, community-oriented places one block at a time. He currently works with PlaceSpeak, an online location-based community consultation platform.