After a decade of dreaming, and with the support of a $64,000 grant from the St. Boniface Hospital Foundation, staff at the health care facility have gotten a composting program up and running that diverted 4,085 kilograms of food waste (or over 4 tonnes) in the month of September 2024. That volume represents only a portion of the food waste from the health care facility and members of the environmental committee are optimistic that they’ll be able to do more in the future.
Katie North, a nurse manager and the head of the environmental committee, explains that it took a team effort to get composting activities off the ground. “Once hospital executive had added environmental sustainability as a strategic priority, we knew the timing was right,” she says. “We were able to form the committee in mid-2024 and by September, the program was underway.”
Naturally, the kitchen area of the hospital was the first area to get involved. Carla Williams, Manager of Food Services, shares that the learning curve wasn’t too steep. “Other health care food service sites in Winnipeg are already composting,” she explains. “We work closely together with them, so we were able to learn from their journeys. We also reached out to the Café Marché, the cafeteria food vendor, and they were very excited to join.”
Williams’ team is responsible for planning and preparing 400 to 450 patient meals per day, and the Café Marché keeps thousands of families and staff fed seven days a week. “Some of our composting is due to over production, but the vast majority of it is things we don’t use,” she continues. “The Café is composting eggshells, coffee grounds and veggie peels in huge numbers. Brett Marynuk, the manager, and his team have been so committed to this new process and it’s really making a difference.”
As word spreads about composting at the hospital, feedback has been incredibly positive. “There’s a dietician group whose offices are close to the kitchens,” Williams shares. “They bring their lunch scraps to add to our pile. We’ve had departments reach out, wondering how they can get a bin. We have staff reaching out with ideas on how to fund composting long-term. It’s really satisfying to see this gain momentum.”
That said, Williams acknowledges that while it’s the right thing to do for the environment and that staff were on board, she is extra thankful for not only their willingness to participate, but their enthusiasm. “Realistically, it is more work to compost,” she admits. “It’s easy to just throw everything away, but everyone has agreed and everyone has learned the system. They have accepting doing more work because they know they’re doing something good and they’re proud of it. Same with the staff at the Café. It’s so great to see!”
The committee has their sights set on many other ways that St. Boniface Hospital can reduce waste and better care for the planet. “Think of how often staff in all areas of the hospital wash their hands,” North says. “If we could compost all the paper towels used to dry our hands, that could be massive. There are a million possibilities on how we could expand. The most important thing is that staff are interested, and they want to get involved. With the support of our executive and the Foundation, there’s room to grow.”