New bear-proof food bins hit Banff neighbourhoods

Composting in Banff will be much easier for some residents by the end of this week.

More than a dozen new bear-proof bins for food waste will be installed in various neighbourhoods,the next step in the town's overall strategy to become a zero-waste community by 2050.

Banff does not have door-to-door collection for garbage, recycling or organics, because backyard bins would attract bears and other predatory wildlife.

Instead, residents haul their waste to community collection bins, all of which have bear-proof latches.

As of this week, they won't have to travel nearly as far.

Sixteen new residential food waste bins will be distributed by the end of the week. A total of 63 bins will be in place within two years.

"I think for the most part, people want to do the right thing, but we are an interesting animal, and we like convenience," Mayor Karen Sorensen told the Calgary Eyeopener.

"And so by putting these compost bins right into the neighbourhoods, within 100 meters of homes, we can make it much easier for our residents to do the right thing and to divert."

Residents can find the location of the nearest food waste bin here.

Currently, 38 per cent of all Banff's waste is diverted from landfill. More than a quarter of that diverted waste is food scraps and food-soiled waste.

Sorensen said the town wants to increase that dramatically, and hopes this initiative encourages community buy-in.

With files from Monty Kruger and theCalgary Eyeopener.