Enviromental Initiatives and Information

The Town of Niverville has adopted a philosophy of responsible environmental sustainability. It is our belief that although national and provincial governments have a responsibility to promote good stewardship of our earth, it is the local level that will attain the results. Whether its choices made within your own home, your business or church, or choices and support provided by the community as a whole, these are the actions that will effect change. Although we are already regarded as one of the leaders in municipal recycling, continued progress and initiatives in today’s world are required. Various initiatives are being explored for viability and impact, so check back often to see what’s new.

Stewardship Statistics

2009 Community Recycling Grade:A+
2009 Average Recycling:158.3 kg per person
2009 Total Community Recycling:390,042 kg
Stats courtesy of Manitoba Product Stewardship Corp - Stats include April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009

2008 Waste Tonnage:1242.72 Tonnes (includes business)
2009 Waste Tonnage:805.38 Tonnes (estimate - includes residential only since April 2009
2010 Waste Tonnage Estimate:635.34 Tonnes (based on current trends)
As of April 2009 waste pickup has been limited to residential units only and each unit has been limited to 2 bags of waste per week.

Curbside Recycling

Curbside recycling is offered to all residents of town with pickup on Thursday mornings throughout town (starting at 8am). Blue boxes are available from the administration office with the first one being free and additional ones available for a small recovery fee. Niverville has achieved an A+ rating for the past 6 consecutive years, exceeding 120 kg per person in recycled materials annually. While this reduces our community footprint on the environment, it has the added advantage of reducing our landfill fees, enabling municipal revenues to be better spent in other areas. Recycling materials need not be sorted but should be relatively clean and crushed where possible.

Items that can be recycled are as follows:

• Newspapers and Flyers
• Magazines and Phonebooks
• Boxboard such as cereal boxes
• Gable top cartons such as milk cartons
• Aseptic Containers such as juice boxes
• Steel and Aluminum Cans such as pop or soup
• Plastics numbered 1 or 2
• Glass Containers
• Cardboard

Note that plastic bags and styrofoam ARE NOT recyclable although plastic bags are returnable to many local stores. Other items commonly placed in blueboxes by mistake are wrapping paper, paper plates (both can be shredded and added to compost) and plastics other than those listed above.

Community Composting

Currently offered only during the summer months, all grass clippings can be left at our compost site north of the Curling Club, on Arena Road. Any compost material left over after community use is offered back to individual community members as bed and garden enhancer. Individual household composting is encouraged including erosion prevention practices such as mulching. It is interesting to note the effect that mulching rather than bagging your yard can have. Mulching provides a natural layer of protection that can reduce water loss by up to 70%, requiring less water for a healthy lawn. Although mulching may require you to mow more often to ensure that your grass is shorter during cutting, it is considerably faster than bagging, especially if you consider hauling away grass clippings. The town continues to offer backyard composters at a reduced rate through the Seine Rat River Conservation District. Composters are available for purchase by Town Residents for $28 at the Town Office on Main Street. For backyard composting tips click here.

Local Diet

Although a local diet is always a challenge in our Northern climate, we live in a diverse agricultural region. As such, there are a variety of local producers of fruit, meat and vegetables. The local grocery store will feature some of these products during applicable seasons and many of the producers will sell direct to the public.