My neighbors are observant. Someone has noticed my green wheelie bin was not out at the curb yet. I felt obliged to divert the implied criticism by noting that my backyard composter bin is not yet full. Once it is, or we get more snowfalls than I wish to shovel, I will use the green bin.

One of the lesser heralded features of the new city composting system is the smart beige carrying bin for the kitchen counter. I used to use a little blue pail that once held the kid’s sidewalk chalk. But this new bin is larger, has a lid, and I fill it up daily (being home for 3 meals a day does that…).

I don’t bother with a liner. Maybe a piece of paper towel at the bottom or quarter sheet of the daily newspaper goes in first. After that it’s peels and paper towels galore. I do spray it with veggie cooking spray first, everything then slides out. I have also run it through the dishwasher twice, it comes out like new, but the label looks like it won’t last too much longer if Ms Kenmore keeps it up.

On the other hand, the folks at Laidlaw CoOp are participating and keeping the truck busy.

My father put his bin out for the first time last Friday. When the truck lifting mechanism put it down, it did so with much too much force, smashing the bin from top to bottom. Within half an hour, a city truck swung by and swapped his broken bin for a new one.