Welcome to the Compost 201 Series!

A free online composting workshop series

 

Join us this Fall as our in-house and guest composting experts share everything you need to know about composting. This new series covers a wide range of topics, from basic composting, to large scale composting, microorganisms, and more! Register for one or all of the presentations below, but don’t wait, as seats are limited.

Backyard Composting Webinar, Zoom

Monday, October 19th, 2020, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm CDT

Register here

Back by popular demand! Learn everything you need to know about starting and maintaining a compost bin at home. We cover:

  • what is composting and why should we do it?
  • compost bin selection and where to place your bins
  • what can and cannot be composted
  • how to maintain your bins (layering greens and browns, turning/aerating the pile/moisture content)
  • composting in winter
  • common problems and solutions
  • when is the compost finished and ready to harvest?
  • how to use your finished compost

 

Vermicomposting Webinar, Zoom – Guest speaker, Jen Unwin

Wednesday, October 21st, 2020, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm CDT

Register Here

Want to try composting, but don’t have a backyard? Worm composting could be for you! Join Jen as she goes through everything you need to know about composting with worms.

 

Microorganisms – the super heroes of your compost bin – Guest speaker, Fernand Saurette

Monday, October 26th, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm CDT

Register here

Join our guest speaker, Fernand Saurette, as he dives into the wonderful world of compost microorganisms. Even though we can’t see them with the naked eye, they are key in the creation of compost!

 

Compost Winnipeg – Guest speakers, Robin Bryan and Karrie Blackburn

Thursday, October 29th, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm CDT

Register here

As Green Action Centre’s social enterprise, Compost Winnipeg is a mid-scale composting service that caters to everyone including offices, multi-family residential buildings, homes, small restaurants and cafes. Join Robyn and Karrie as they take you through what they do and the impact it makes on our environment.

 

Community-based social marketing – a Compost Perspective Webinar, Zoom

Monday, November 2nd, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm CST

Register here

Success of any composting program in your community hinges on the support of local residents. Most often, when introducing an idea, we focus on the technical side of things, like how to do it, but what if we focused more on the ‘people aspect’ of getting others composting? What makes people want to compost and what doesn’t? Community Based Social Marketing (CBSM) combines marketing with psychology to create a powerful approach to facilitating behaviour change. In this presentation, you’ll learn about what CBSM is, the basics of how to use it in your next project, and several examples of how to apply it to sustainability behaviours. This presentation is a great fit for anybody working in sustainability, whether you’re trying to encourage correct sorting of waste, promoting active transportation, encouraging healthy habits, and more.

Click here to view the presenter's bios

Lea Coté – Backyard Composting Presentation

Lea started her journey with the Green Action Centre in 2011, as part of the Active and Safe Routes to School Program. Her passion for food waste reduction led her to switch over to the Composting Program as program coordinator in April of 2019. She is a graduate of the University of Manitoba where she earned a degree in Environmental Sciences with Distinction and is very passionate about the environmental education Green Action Centre is doing. Lea loves volunteering around the world, whether it’s with turtles in Costa Rica or on a farm in the Galapagos Islands, and has a love for learning and trying new things everyday

Jen Unwin – Vermicomposting Presentation

Jen Unwin, along with her business partner Mike Jaques run Nature’s Perfect Plant Food, a
vermicomposting operation just south of Steinbach, in which they breed red wriggler worms and create vermicompost.  Jen lives in Winnipeg and handles the day to day running of the business including public relations and education. She feels passionate about worms and is excited to share her knowledge.

Fernand Saurette – Microorganisms Presentation

Fernand is one of Green Action Centre’s Master Composters since 2008. As a biologist with a fondness for microbiology, he loves to talk about the living organisms that thrive on what humans consider organic waste. His formal training has been in fish biology where he spent several field seasons in the Arctic and he is recently retired from teaching biology and anatomy at the Saint-Boniface University. On top of being an expert in the subject, other
interests include collecting fossils for museums, beekeeping and sculpting in clay.

Robin Bryan & Karrie Blackburn- Compost Winnipeg Presentation

Robin joined Green Action Centre’s social enterprise team in the past year, but he is no stranger to composting or to working within the non-profit sector.  After working for nearly a decade on environmental and active transportation issues in Winnipeg at the Wilderness Committee Manitoba office and with the University of Winnipeg’s UWSA Bike Lab, Robin then spent several years working and living in Dawson City, Yukon and across Canada’s northern territories. Robin has recently re-established himself back in Winnipeg and is excited to help Compost Winnipeg continue to grow and divert as much valuable, nutrient rich organic waste from Winnipeg’s landfills as possible. He enjoys wilderness excursions, rock climbing, pick-up hockey at the local rink, making music and raising his toddler, Taiga in his free time.

Karrie joins Robin as part of the Compost Winnipeg team as the Sales and Customer Service lead. Karrie believes composting is the most impactful choice to take immediate and deliberate action to fight climate change. Being a firm believer in leading by example, Karrie joined the crew of like-minded, action-taking, passionate beings at Compost Winnipeg as a courier and advocate in November 2019. You may also recognize Karrie as the Hoopist & founder of Kurrent Motion Hoops and former president of the Winnipeg Circus Club.

Teresa Prokopanko- CBSM Presentation

Teresa Prokopanko is a composting program coordinator at Green Action Centre. She has a Bachelor of Environmental Studies with a concentration in Psychology, a Master’s of Natural Resources Management, and an Advanced Certificate in Community Based Social Marketing. She is passionate about creating effective change for sustainability both in ourselves and our communities. Teresa is a mother of a toddler, which takes up much of her “free time”, but otherwise enjoys cooking, reading, and getting outside.

For more information

Green Action Centre
Compost Program
(204) 925-3777
compost@greenactioncentre.ca