Mr. Speaker, this week, National Composting Awareness Week, we celebrate the benefits of composting, both to reduce waste and to create nutrient rich earth.
Composting facilities across Canada process almost 700,000 tonnes or about 11 per cent of the organic waste produced each year, but it is believed that about half of the total waste stream could be composted.
About a million Canadian households also divert 200,000 tonnes of their kitchen and yard wastes through back yard composting. I commend those that realize the importance of composting and I urge all Canadians to get involved in this valuable program for life.
We must reduce the amount of garbage in our landfills if we no longer want to be counted among the most wasteful people on the planet.