Organic material placed in your green cart will break down in the City's eight week composting process. Organic waste like food scraps and yard trimmings can be composted into valuable soil instead of ending up in the landfill.
Accepted items: food scraps (including spoiled food), yard waste, pet waste and kitty litter as well as cage shavings. Unsure where an item belongs? View our Where does it go: item search tool.
Cart use:
The lid must close. Save space in your green cart by cutting branches smaller to make more room. Save excess yard waste until your next collection day, when material will fit into the cart.
Excess and large yard waste, such as big branches, tree stumps, extra leaves, branches, or grass, can be taken to the Transfer Site for a fee (no food or pet waste). The Transfer Site does not accept food, dirt or sod.
Plastic, glass, construction material, wood and metal is either recyclable or garbage.
Line your kitchen catcher with newspaper or a certified compostable bag.
Branches must be under one metre (3 ft) long and 10 cm (4 in) in diameter.
Put material in loose or in a certified compostable bag. Only use bags with one of the following symbols (‘Biodegradable’ does not mean compostable).
Food, bones, oils and tea bags
Materials
Location and sorting
Leftovers such as meat, fish, dairy, produce and breads (remove from containers or bags)
bones, shells, seeds, pits and peels
sauces, jams and dressing (no containers)
cooking oils and fats (let hot oil & fat cool, absorb with paper material first)
Coffee filters, grounds and tea bags
Green organics cart
Remove food from packaging
Line your kitchen catcher with newspaper or a certified compostable bag
Paper, cardboard and wood
Materials
Location and sorting
Greasy pizza boxes
Napkins, paper towels and tissue
Parchment paper
French fry boxes
Fast food paper wrapping like hamburger wrappers and paper straws
Greasy kraft paper bags
paper muffin liners
Popsicle sticks
Toothpicks, wooden skewers, stir sticks and chopsticks
Green organics cart
Yard waste (branches, sod, leaves)
Materials
Location and sorting
Small branches (less than 1.5cm in diameter and no longer than 1m)
Leaves, flowers and grass clippings
sod (only fill the bin half full due to weight limitations)
hay and straw
Green organics cart
Excess and large yard waste, such as big branches, tree stumps, extra leaves, branches, or grass, can be taken to the Transfer Site for a fee (no food or pet waste)
Branches must be under one metre (3 ft) long and 10 cm (4 in) in diameter
Excess yard waste including leaves, branches, grass and large stumps
pet waste (dog or cat poop) and cat litter (only compostable bags)
bedding made of organic materials
pet fur, hair and feathers
pet food and treats
Green organics cart
Holiday materials
Some holiday-specific materials can be recycled through our seasonal programs. Visit our Holiday waste and recycling tips to find out what to do with items like Christmas lights, trees for chipping, and pumpkins after Halloween.