HRM councillors re garbage and Compost

Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2001 11:15:54 -0400 (AST)
From: Martin Willison <willison@is.dal.ca>
To: sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca
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I am a bit baffled by the concern over meats and cheeses
in composts with regard to rats.  To be sure, rats will eat 
these, but they will also go to composts for seeds (such as 
from squashes and cereals), breads and cakes, and peelings.
So the best way to keep out rats is to contain the compost 
within a wire screen having a hole size too small for a 
rat to enter.  Then you'll have a garden with lots of
well-fed voles, to be followed by occasional visits by a
hawk! 
	I was raised from childhood in the 1940s to put 
all organic matter in a compost.  No meat was thrown away 
in those days - we ate it all!  When all that was left were 
bones, these were boiled for soup.  This was in England
and my father kept the compost in the traditional English 
way - in a shallow pit in a well-drained part of the garden.  
He periodically put a layer of regular garden soil over 
the rotting matter.  I recommend this as the simplest and 
most sustainable solution (including eating ALL the meats 
and cheeses). If you have a fear of rats, then lock them 
out using a wire cage.  
	In the winter in Nova Scotia, I sometimes put the 
compostibles on the snow for birds - crows and bluejays 
love it!  Provided the snow is deep enough, rodents do not 
tunnel their way up to the frozen food.  Composting is 
elementary common sense provided you listened to the 
biology teacher in school; the decomposing work is done 
by fungi and bacteria (generally of harmless varieties from 
a human health point of view) which are everywhere.  All 
you have to do is leave the organic waste in a pile in
a convenient place.  I can't believe all the hoo-hah about 
it!

Martin Willison



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