BY PAUL MITCHELLNorth Country This Week

CANTON – The push to keep the composting program alive and well in the Village of Canton continues.

Greg Todd, co-founder of North Country Compost, told North Country This Week in an email that a group of Canton Central School students continue to promote the cause.

“It is with great joy that we announce that the Canton Central Green Team is now knocking on doors in the community to get more families to drop off food scraps at the Village drop off site, located on Lincoln Street near the Ice Pavilion,” noted Todd. “Wish the children luck and greet them with a hearty hello if you are so fortunate as to be visited by them.

The Green Team consists of 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th graders led by Megan Smith and Kimberly Newman who seek to improve the environment, according to Todd.

“Given the climate emergency isn't going away by itself, diverting food scraps from the landfill where they turn into methane, a greenhouse gas more than 80 times as powerful as carbon dioxide, is a cheap and easy way to take action on this critical problem. Join over 60 village residents who take advantage of this free resource,” he wrote.

For more information, contact nococompst@gmail.com.

Although welcomed by the village board, the question of financing the composting program and sanitary concerns have surfaced.

The Lincoln Street compost site now features three sealed totes that require users to sign up for free access to the coded lock. Signs at the site provide a QR code that links to an online form where the email, name and primary residence of the user are recorded. The containers are emptied weekly.

Catherine Shrady, chair of the village’s Sustainability Committee, has told village officials that the committee is exploring grant opportunities to support the composting venue.

Village trustee Barbara Beekman recently informed board members that Jennifer Perry from the Adirondack North Country Association has agreed to write and administer a grant through the Northern Border Regional Commission.

In October, agreed 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. 

“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,” stated Todd in October.

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.