To the Editor,
Something rotten in Denmark? No, not Denmark, but right here in Nanaimo.
Just take a step outdoors and breathe deeply through your nose. That stench in the air is not the Harmac pulp mill that we know and love. It never stunk that bad.
What it is, is the improper composting of our own kitchen waste.
Last summer, our neighbour had some of this type of compost delivered to spread on his gardens. A good idea gone bad, as the whole neighbourhood was fouled with a reek that smelled as though our sewage system was broken. On discovering what it was, it was too late to yell at my innocent neighbour.
I called the company that has the contract to make and deliver the compost and was told to “suck it up, the smell will go away in a few days”.
That company’s representative didn’t want to hear that there are many ways to properly do the job of composting almost odour free.
One simple method to “sweeten” the mix is to add inexpensive sodium bicarbonate, thus lowering the acidity.
It may slow the process which is a good thing in the creation of a better, sweeter finished product. It’s chemistry 101.
Now that the green bin program is in full swing, the sour sewer smell is too often permeating the whole city.
Perhaps enough people may now be motivated to complain. Then the processors may learn how to mend their odiferous ways.
Wendy-Lynne MacKinnon
Nanaimo