BY PAUL MITCHELL
North Country This Week

CANTON – The chair of the Canton Sustainability Committee is encouraging the public to express their support to members of the Canton Village Board to keep the food scrap drop off site in operation near Bend in the River Park.

Cathay Shrady, in a letter to North Country This Week, said a report from the Sustainability Committee regarding the compost site will be delivered to the village board at its monthly meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 20 at 6:30 p.m.

In August the Canton Sustainability Committee was asked by the Canton Village Board to make recommendations to improve the food scrap collection project at the Lincoln Street drop-off site. This is because contamination with non-compostable materials, insects, and lack of regular collection called into question continued Village support of this food scrap-compost project, noted Shrady.

“Rather than going to a landfill where food scraps produce the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane, composting food scraps reduces production of greenhouse gases, returns nutrients to soil, and lengthens the lifespan of sanitary landfills,” she said. “The Committee recommended working with North Country Compost (NCC) to take over food scrap collection for composting and monitoring of the site and the Village agreed to do so for a three-month trial period beginning in October.”

The compost site now features an open dumpster to two sealed and locked 96-gallon totes and requires users to sign up for free access to the coded lock.

Signs at the site provide a QR code that links to an online form where the email, name and primary residence of the user are recorded. When the form is submitted the lock combination is automatically provided. NCC’s phone number is posted for those who do not use QR codes and need assistance or have questions. Signs at the site provide information about the types of food scraps that are accepted and those that are not.

“As a rule of thumb, anything that once lived can be composted,” commented Shrady.

“The cost of the service was $796.24 monthly. NCC has agreed to lower the price significantly based on lower than anticipated costs if the contract is extended. Grants to pay for the service are still being researched and may eventually cover most or all of the cost,” explained Shrady in her letter.

Since the new system started on October 10th, Shrady noted, NCC has emptied the containers weekly and there has been an improvement with decreased contamination and insects. According to data collected by NCC, as of Dec. 6, a total of 2392 pounds of compostable material has been collected Data indicates 47 different individuals have used the site - 44 from Canton and 3 from elsewhere.

Greg Todd, co-founded of North Country Compost, expanded on Shrady's perspective on Canton’s food scrap drop off program.

As COP 28 gears up for its final week, the world is hoping for a favorable outcome. In the meantime, we in the Canton and Potsdam area might reflect on what we are doing to reduce our carbon footprint,” wrote Todd.

“One thing for sure is that we have a free food scrap drop site near Bend In The River park in Canton. Since its reactivation by NoCo Compost on October 10th, as of December 1st, a total of 1769 pounds of food scraps plus mulch and 623 pounds of Halloween pumpkins have been collected which likely would otherwise have ended up in a landfill where they would produce the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane.”

“On December 20th at 6:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 60 Main Street, the Village of Canton will hold a meeting to discuss possible continued funding for the site. If you want to make sure that Canton continues to offer this free service near BITR [Bend in the River Park] park, please attend this important meeting and let the Trustees know your feelings,” concluded Todd.