BY PAUL MITCHELL
North Country This Week

CANTON – Village residents will be able to bring their food scraps to Bend in the River Park following approval by the Canton Village Board last week to fund a three-month contract with North Country Compost.

Food scraps collected by North Country Compost, a new entity formed by Canton residents Cory Vinyard and Greg Todd, will be converted into compost at Cory’s farm on Townline Road between Hermon and Canton. The total cost of the service will be $921.25 monthly. The service was approved for 3 months, in the hope that grants could be found after January 1st to fund the service.

To address the contamination issues, NCC will be picking up scraps on a regular weekly schedule. The large two-cubic yard dumpster at the site will be replaced with three 64-gallon sealed totes.

“At the request of the Village Trustees, NCC will lock all containers; community members wishing to drop off compost will call the posted phone number and be provided the combination. The intention is to provide the Village with more information about who is using the service and hopefully reduce contamination. NCC will also weigh the amounts collected weekly and maintain the site on a frequent basis,” stated Todd.

“We deeply appreciate the support of Megan Smith, teacher at J.M. McKenny Middle School and Co-Advisor for the school’s Green Team. Under Smith’s leadership, over 50 signatures were collected from students on a petition to the mayor in support of the food scrap collection effort at Bend In The River Park,” Todd added.

Li Lin from the Middle School attended the Village Board Meeting and presented the petitions to Mayor Dalton. Li also created a slideshow and delivered an informative and persuasive speech about the importance of responsibly managing food waste and the benefits of composting.

“North Country Compost welcomes the support of the mayor and the Canton trustees and looks forward to honoring their encouragement by providing newly invigorated support for the Bend in the River site,” Todd stated.

Vinyard grew up on his family's dairy farm on the edge of Canton where he now practices rotational grazing for his Dexter beef cattle and Dorset sheep.

Todd has been a resident of Canton since June 2022. Previously Greg resided in Brooklyn, N.Y. where he led a community garden and was a member of his community board for 20 years. He is a member of the Canton United Methodist Church and the Canton Sustainability Committee.

A start date for the new service will be announced shortly.

For additional information, email nccompost22@gmail.com or call 718-496-5139.