Join in the 2024 Day of Action on Litter and Help Clean Up Shelburne! May 14, 2024

You can tell the Town about garbage and debris left on Town or private property. Complete the online report a concern form.

Missed Collections

For missed collections or if you received an OOPS sticker and have questions, contact:

• GFL at 1-888-941-3345 ext. 1 or dufferin@gflenv.com OR

Dufferin Waste at 519-941-2816 ext. 2620 or dufferinwaste@dufferincounty.ca 

The Town of Shelburne is reminding pet owners to be good neighbours by picking up after their dogs. Not only is it the right thing to do, it’s also the law!

By-laws are in place to keep the community safe and clean. Scooping poop keeps recreational, public areas and green spaces clean. It also reduces the risk of spreading disease to people or other animals.

We’re all guilty of throwing out perfectly good food. While we may have had the best intentions of eating it, it was left to spoil instead. Although this may seem harmless, it happens all too often.

Annually, Canadians discard more than $1,100 worth of food (roughly $17 billion worth of food waste yearly) according to the National Zero Waste Council’s research on household food waste in Canada.

Why does it matter?

Food waste directly affects the environment. Each year, approximately 2 million tonnes of food end up in our landfills. When food starts to decompose, it creates methane, a greenhouse gas (GHG) 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2).

Methane gas lasts in the atmosphere for up to 10 years and directly affects the ozone layer.

Wasted food also uses the resources that go into growing and getting the food to our tables. Every tonne of household food waste that is avoided is the equivalent of taking one car off the road each year. (National Zero Waste Council’s Love Food Hate Waste website)

So what exactly is food waste?

Food waste is food that has been discarded even though it was still good for consumption. Food waste can happen in many forms, including:

• Stocking up on too much food and not consuming it before it spoils (e.g. bread, vegetables)
• Disposing of food before it spoils (e.g. produce, meat)
• Throwing out leftovers or food scraps that could’ve been reused to make other dishes (e.g. fruits, vegetables)
• Throwing out half-finished items because they’re no longer being used or are needed (e.g. sauces, dips)
• Storing foods improperly so they don’t have a long shelf life (e.g. dairy, eggs)
• Disposing of food scraps in the garbage instead of placing them in the organic bin or compost (e.g. meat bones, coffee grounds, shells, tea)

So what types of foods are people throwing out?

A lot of good food ends up in our landfills. Most food waste comes from discarded meat, vegetables, fruit, bread and baked goods. Oftentimes, good food is wasted because we buy too much, don’t plan out our meals or fail to store our food correctly.

Looking to reduce food waste at home? Here are a few ways you can make an impact straight from your kitchen!

What’s in the fridge? 

Take note of what’s in your fridge – what do you use the most? What do you barely eat? Is there something that is close to its best-before date that you can use up?

Plan your meals 

Meal prepping for the week has many benefits including using up food you’ve purchased, saving time and preventing you from overbuying items. Use up perishable items like dairy, seafood and meat first. Only buy what you need for the week.

Keep it fresh 

Not all food is stored the same way, so learning how to store food properly can help prevent food waste. The fridge temperature should be set to 4°C or lower to keep produce fresh. Keep vegetables that tend to wilt like kale, lettuce or spinach, in a produce drawer with high humidity. You can also consider keeping fruits and vegetables, like cucumbers, peppers, apples and carrots in a low-humidity produce drawer.

Frozen but fresh 

Made a tasty stew or soup but can’t finish it all? Try freezing it! Freezing food items can make them last longer. Things like bread, muffins, soups and vegetables can last up to six months in the freezer.

Get creative 

A lot of the food that gets thrown out is perfectly edible or usable – like food scraps! Many times, it’s easier to throw it out then to have it take up space in the fridge. If there are things we’re consistently throwing out, there may be a creative way to upcycle them. For example, over-ripe tomatoes can be turned into a tomato sauce that can be used in many ways like pasta sauce with herbs, pizza sauce or marinara sauce. In addition, old herbs, leftover chicken or vegetables could be made into a delicious warm fall soup. For recipe ideas check out National Zero Waste Council’s recipe finder.

Beyond the best before dates 

If your veggies are looking a little wilted, try soaking them in water to help rehydrate them. If you have some ripe bananas or blueberries, think about making pancakes for breakfast or other baked goodies like muffins or cake. Ripe fruit can also make for a delicious smoothie or power bowl. Got leftover veggies? Try roasting them, making a sauce or adding them to a soup.

Being more mindful about our food spending habits, what we buy, how we use it and when we use it is the first step in stopping household food waste. If you have food waste, make sure to put it in your backyard composter or your organics bin and never in your recycling or garbage.

With the rise in food prices and a stronger focus on healthier eating, many people are looking into growing and harvesting their own vegetables. Growing your own produce is a simple and inexpensive form of urban agriculture.

There are many benefits to growing a vegetable garden. It’s an easy way to save money, stay active and make healthier food choices. It also allows you to control the growing environment in your garden, avoiding the use of pesticides and other chemicals and ensures you have access to nutritious and healthy food. Growing your own food helps to mitigate the effects of climate change by reducing food miles (the distance food travels from farm to plate) and greenhouse gas emissions and is a great teaching tool and activity to do with your kids.

Where to start

Picking the right location is an important step. Most vegetables need about six to eight hours of sunlight per day and should be in a place that’s not too windy. Look for a spot that has proper drainage so that plants and soil don’t get overly saturated with water or water doesn’t pool in different areas, causing your plants to rot.

It’s also important to feed your plants the right nutrients. This will help you get a better crop yield. To provide valuable nutrients, you can add organic matter to your soil, such as compost made from grass clippings, dry leaves and garden scrapes.

Most vegetables need to be planted every year unless they are perennial crops like asparagus, rhubarb and some herbs. Not all vegetables can be planted at the same time. There are two seasons for vegetables – cool and warm:

• Cool-season vegetables include peas, lettuce and carrots. The soil needs to be around 10o C to start planting these vegetables.
• Warm-season vegetables include tomatoes and peppers. The soil needs to be as warm as possible for optimal planting. Consider planting these crops at the end of May or early June.

Keep in mind that some crops mature quickly and have a short harvest period (e.g., lettuce), while others (e.g., tomatoes) take longer to produce. By staggering plantings at different times, you can have crops to harvest all season long.

What to plant

If you’re new to planting vegetables, here are a few worry-free choices to consider when planning your garden.

Lettuce – Lettuce is a leafy green that grows well in the spring and fall. Lettuce grows quickly, so plant a small amount of seeds at a time. Remember to water your lettuce plants frequently.

Tomatoes – Tomatoes come in many different varieties. They love direct sunlight and are perfect to plant in the spring and early summer. Tomatoes can produce a hefty yield.

Bell Peppers – Peppers are a warm-season crop that come in a variety of colours, shapes, sizes and degree of heat. Peppers have a long growing season of between 60 to 90 days. Peppers love sunlight and enjoy moist soil. They are best planted in late spring.

Carrots – Carrots are a cool-season crop grown in spring. They prefer the sun from six to 10 hours per day. The soil should be free-draining and should be sandier for the best yield.

Spinach – Spinach is a leafy green and is a popular crop that can be planted in very early spring, as well as in fall. Spinach has cool-season growing conditions and requirements similar to lettuce. Spinach tolerates full sun to light shade.

Don’t have a large outdoor space or feel overwhelmed? Try the Shelburne's Community Garden.

Now that you have enough information to get started, it’s time to dust off your trowel, get your hands dirty, start planting and then share your harvest and experience with friends and neighbours. 

You are allowed 1 clear bag or container of garbage per week. The maximum weight for clear garbage bags/containers is 44 pounds. The maximum size of garbage containers should not exceed 125 liters or 33 gallons. Bag tags are required for any bag/container of garbage that exceeds your weekly garbage limit.

Please attach the tag to the neck of your garbage bag or place the tag on the top of the contents in your container so that it is clearly visible. All tagged garbage MUST follow garbage set-out rules (ex. clear bag, maximum weight of 44 lbs, etc.). 

Bag Tag Vendors

Bag tags can be purchased online in blocks of ten visit https://www.dufferincounty.ca/waste-services/garbage/. The cost for each block of ten bag tags is $20, plus $2 for shipping and handling. Once your purchase is complete, please allow 7-10 business days to receive your bag tags. 

Single bag tags can be purchased in person at participating vendors. One bag tag costs $2. Please see below to find a vendor in your area. Please call ahead of time to ensure bag tags are available for purchase. Please contact Dufferin Waste at 519-941-281 ext. 2620 or dufferinwaste@dufferincounty.ca if you have questions.

Shelburne Vendors 

Caravaggio Drugs
128 Main Street East, Shelburne  519-925-2729

Shelburne Fresh Variety
604 Owen Sound Street, Shelburne   519-217-0137

Shelburne Foodland
824 Ojibway Road, Shelburne   519-925-6032

Town of Shelburne Municipal Office
203 Main Street East, Shelburne  519-925-2600

Town & Milk Variety

516 Main Street East, Shelburne   519-925-3750 

Garbage, recyclables, and organics are collected weekly in Dufferin County.

All waste should be properly sorted, at the curb by 7am on your scheduled collection day, and no earlier than 5:00 p.m. the day before.

Properly sort items into the correct bins. Search the WhichBin? tool, to find out which items go where. 

Download the May 2023 to April 2024 Waste Collection Guide.