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Chromucle Staff Susan Sauve wants to set the record straight about backyard composters: there is no fuss, no In her role as the City of Waterâ€" loo‘s recycling coordinator, Sauve has had to do her share of debriefâ€" ing members of the public who are convinced that composting causes more problems â€" notably furty, longâ€"tailed problems â€" than it putrmid odor and, most importantly, they do not approximate rat heaven. The main advice she gives resiâ€" dents is if you‘re going to compost, you have to do it right. "A wellâ€"managed bin will reduce any kind of pest problem, whether it‘s rats or squirrels or the neighâ€" bor‘s dog," she said. Composting involves putting any household wastes that were once part of a living thing in a specially designed composting bin rather than into the garbage. Comâ€" postable materials include vegâ€" etable and fruit rinds and seeds, eggshells, coffee grounds, tea bags, stale bread, rice, flowers, grass clippings, leaves, twigs, wood shavâ€" ings, sawdust and even hair clip~ pings. â€" â€" Composting ‘rat tale‘ is largely erroneous Sauve recommends not putting meat, bones or fatty foods such as salad dressing and butter into composters because they take a long time to break down and quickly begin to give off a strong Summer Home & Garden Food scraps that do go into a composter should be covered with a thin layer of soil, leaves or other You can lose a lot more than "Quality Builders Since 1969" "Formerly Hand Pools" DROP iN TO OUR SHOWROOM FOR ALL YOUR CHEMICAL $UPPLIES 550 PARKSIDE DRIVE AT WEBER, WATERLOO L ss6â€"3792 B , "11,995 SPECIAL FROM PALM POOLS yard waste, or they should be dug into the compost heap. Sauve said it is helpful to have a supply of dry leaves and soil to add to wet food waste in order for the decomposition of the compost to This humus can be used as top dressing for lawns or be dug into gardens as a nutrientâ€"rich fertilâ€" take place efficiently. Once in a bin, the compost decomposes and mixes with the soil layers to become a dark, fertile soil called humus. Contrary to what many people As for rats, Sauve said stories out of Toronto connecting rats with backyard composters are misleadâ€" ing, because very few of the reports of rats in the city involved comâ€" think, compost does not smell bad, as lOl'lg as wet wastes are mixed with drier materials, Suave said. Metro Toronto health departments have agreed that there is no proven connection between comâ€" posting and rats. â€""It‘s not the norm for a rat to live inside a shed or a composter. They (Continued on page 17) & 1io .pa¢ .