Composting Tips
Storing food scraps
- Choose a container with a tight fitting lid
- Line your container with a material that can absorb moisture such as newspaper, a paper bag, or wood chips
- Keep your collection container in fridge or freezer to reduce odours and fruit flies
- Clearly label your collection container so there is no confusion with garbage or edible food
- If storing outside, keep the container in the shade and preferably inside a bear/dog proof bin that locks
Composting in bear country
Top 5 Tips to reduce bear-human conflict
- Ensure your yard does not provide easy food sources for wildlife. Electric fences and bear-proof containers for storing feed are highly recommended. Clean your BBQ and don’t leave big piles of wet grass – compost or spread out. Put away bird feeders until hibernation season.
- Work together with your neighbours to keep the whole neighbourhood safe.
- Add equal amounts of BROWN/Carbon-rich materials to GREEN/Nitrogen-rich materials to reduce odours. Every time you add food scraps, be sure to add some shredded paper, dry leaves, or wood chips. Always cover your pile with a layer of browns – it’s the best way to finish your composting chore for the day.
- Give your composting pile some air! Lack of oxygen leads to big smells. Turn your compost with a pitchfork or other tool.
- Manage your crops, especially fruit. Prune your fruit trees annually for healthier trees and to make harvesting easier. Pick all the fruit as soon as you (and the bears) can smell it. MASH has an apple pressing service every year and we have a steam juicer and other equipment that can be borrowed.
We’ve provided links for some of our favourite handouts produced by community organizations who have been running composting programs for many years.
Squamish Garden Smart: Composting with care in bear country https://www.bearsmart.com/docs/Composting-in-Bear-Country-Squamish.pdf
