Organic Waste Diverted from This Year’s fair

Armstrong, BC – The IPE staff were committed to reducing waste this year, and they did that to a huge degree by bringing in Spa Hills Compost to divert as much of the food waste and other organics from local landfills as possible.

"With the generous help by a group of 52 enthusiastic and hardworking students from Silver Star Elementary in Vernon, we managed to keep almost 7000 lbs out of the landfill!”, said Keli Westgate of Spa Hills Compost. “We were so excited to have so much help this year. The kids were all easily trained in what to sort from bins, how to help vendors, what to say to the public when asked what they were doing and with hourly announcements from Jack Jackson on the big stage, this endeavor was a huge success.”

Each food vendor was given a small compostable bag-lined caddy which was refreshed every hour or as needed by the “Compost Crew”. Volunteers also worked a main waste area by the food court where they would help the public find the right bin for their waste as well as pulling paper towel from the bathroom and paper plates from the garbage bins.

“Everyone visiting the Fair this year was not only curious about it, but very supportive of our efforts to reduce waste”, said Yvonne Paulson, new Manager of the Fair.

A benchmark was set last year when just one person was doing the job of sorting through the trash last year. Last year the amount kept from landfills was 1240 lbs, so this year more than 5 times that amount was turned into soil-enriching compost!