Green organics bins have seen a successful debut

Salford landfill site will greatly extend its life span with this diversion program

When the City Of Woodstock, along with the township of SouthWest Oxford, began its composting system on Jan. 1 -- to divert a long list of items from the Salford Landfill -- it was certainly going to be a wait-and-see on successful stories and compiled statistics

What is a percentage of households using the new system?

What is the total weight diverted from the county's landfill?

How will the average family utilize the program, and it certainly depends on whether you're in a house, a multi-family apartment, or a farm?

The County of Oxford has just released its numbers and noted that over 300,000 kg of organics had been diverted from the actual dump over the first 3 months.     

I would say that warmer temperatures for easier access to bring your new green bin to the road (curb) should improve the numbers as time moves forward.  We have a lot of snow to deal with this past winter. 

I think residents have to also get used to something new as Woodstock is now on a 6-zone schedule, so sometimes it's practically 9 days between pickups (Friday the 13th to Monday the 23rd; example). The crew gathering up the recycling is from Emterra, who have been hired by the provincial government as a third-party service. The City crew picks up the tagged bags and the organics -- often in a truck with two sections in the back.

I have included two more fast facts as noted from the Oxford website.

As a quick backgrounder, I'm a city council member from Woodstock (2nd term), a member of the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) board for 7+ years, and have been assigned by the City to the Environmental Advisory Committee (WEAC). Therefore, I have a strong belief in words like recycle, reuse, reduce, repurpose, and divert from landfill so that the Salford facility will continue to serve all in Oxford for another 30+ years.

Contact:

Mark Schadenberg

Woodstock City Council

(519) 532-2068

Email:

mschadenberg@cityofwoodstock.ca

Woodstock125 celebrations for Canada Day will include much more than fireworks

Kim Mitchell to bring his 'Wild Party' to Southside Park on July 1

It's a birthday year for my hometown -- Woodstock125. Among the festivities is the Canada Day Fireworks in Southside Park, which is a setting that could be re-named Rockland Wonderland for the Wednesday party celebrating Canada and Woodstock. The City was officially declared a 'city' in 1901.

Patio Lanterns could also be displayed as the Friendly City is welcoming Kim Mitchell to perform around 8 p.m. at the natural amphitheatre for concerts -- the toboggan hill. Later, at about 9:45, the glow off the Cedar Creek pond and lights and noise of the annual fireworks will be the star attraction under the stars. You could say Woodstock revelers will see Diamonds Diamonds in the night sky.   

TMMC (Toyota - Woodstock) is the day's main sponsor, but City special event director Kristen Brodhagen prepares for many other fun reasons to attend, such as food trucks, vendors, kids' activities (like bouncy castles and petting zoo) and the always-popular Lions Club of Woodstock beverage area and its great view of the stage, and its Lager & Ale.

Kim Mitchell's most popular chart hits include Patio Lanterns, Rockland Wonderland, All We Are, Go For Soda, Easy To Tame, Diamonds Diamonds, Alana Loves Me, Rock 'N Roll Duty, Let Go The Line, and of course Lager & Ale plus I Am A Wild Party. 

Mitchell is from the Sarnia area, but with Woodstock125 in 2026, the city's special events department secured the former Max Webster frontman for our wild party.

Since I'm circa 1966, my first recollections of Mitchell is the long hair and the OPP ball cap. Times have changed, but his rock set list is as solid as ever.

I've clipped and saved the city's press release from the website. . . www.cityofwoodstock.ca 

In 1983, Mitchell was named the Most Promising Male Vocalist at the Juno Awards. By 1990, he was honoured as Male Vocalist Of The Year by the Junos. 

In 2004, Kim Mitchell was honoured by Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) with a national achievement award. He was named to the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 2020. His top selling albums include: Akimbo Alogo, Shakin' Like A Human Being, A Million Vacations, and Universal Juveniles.

https://www.cityofwoodstock.ca/en/city-governance/woodstock-125.aspx

Mark's contact information:

I'm also on Instagram as 'councillormarkschadenberg, and on Facebook as Mark Schadenberg.

City Council for the past 7+ years, including 5 current committees.

Upcoming Council Schedule: April 2, April 16, May 7, May 21, June 4, June 18, July 9, Aug. 13, Sept. 3, Sept. 17, Oct 1 and Oct. 15. (Thursdays: First meeting of month at 1:30; second meeting at 7) 

- Recreation Advisory (WRAC; 25 years including long-time member before both elections), Environment (WEAC), Museum, and Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (and its planning committee). 

- 18 years -- 'Lions Club of Woodstock' member: