Some Calgarians are finding maggots in their green carts this summer, and the heat isn’t helping.
The garden hose might just be Ken Marshall’s best weapon to ward off creepy crawlies who love compost in his bin.
“I know with the indoor one you have to be right on top of it, or you will get fruit flies,” the southwest Calgary resident said.
With green carts not slated for pick-up in the southwest until next week, the weather has made many resident’s green carts a hot spot for maggots.
The City of Calgary is assuring residents that maggots in the green carts is a rare concern.
“It’s not very prevalent in our pilot, which we’ve been operating for five years. We’ve only had three calls in to 311 regarding maggots,” said Philippa Wagner with the city. “So we know it’s not a very common problem.”
The pilot included 76,000 households. Those homes were able to reduce the amount of garbage by 40 per cent by composting the correct way.
“When they receive their cart they’ll receive 10 compostable bags. If residents are bagging that food waste and then putting it into their cart, the flies don’t have access to that material,” Wagner said.
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While the city says it’s rare, it only took Global News crews a few minutes to find bins with maggots inside just by following the unpleasant smell and flies.
“They’re valuable flies, even though they’re pretty gross when they get into the green bin,” said John Swann with the University of Calgary department of biological sciences.
He said the creepy crawlers are natural composters and a vital part of our ecosystem.
“The flies you’re going to see typically take three weeks to complete their life cycle. Here in optimal conditions, about 10 days,” Swann said.
“They city gets rid of your bins in seven days — as long as you put them out every week, you’re not going to have the flies complete their life cycle.”
READ MORE: Calgary councillors delay green cart composting fees until 2018
The city also advises residents to keep their meat waste in the freezer before placing it in the green cart for weekly pick up.
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