I stand today to acknowledge May 4-10 as Compost Awareness Week. Composting is an efficient and effective way to reduce the amount of organic waste we send to our landfills.

In Newfoundland and Labrador 300 tonnes of organic waste goes into our landfills on a daily basis. It accounts for approximately 30 per cent of all waste generated in the province. When buried in our landfills, this organic waste produces harmful greenhouse gases as well as a toxic liquid, commonly known as leachate, which can pollute our soil and water.

Composting is a quick, simple way for us to take ownership of this waste stream and manage it in a more environmentally responsible manner. With little effort, we can help reduce the amount of organic waste going to waste disposal sites, help reduce pollution, lower waste collection and disposal costs at the local level, and create healthy and beautiful lawns and gardens just by composting in our own backyards.

In the fall of 2005 the Multi Materials Stewardship Board launched a two-year backyard composting program with a substantial investment from its Waste Management Trust Fund. Through the sale of subsidized compost bins and a major public education and awareness initiative, they set out to increase participation in backyard composting by 50 per cent. I am pleased to report that the program received an overwhelming response throughout the province and, in fact, the MMSB sold out of its 10,000 inventory of compost bins in the first six months of the program. They acquired an additional 10,000 bins which were also quickly taken up by residents throughout the province.

Together, through actions such as backyard composting, we can all make valuable contributions towards protecting our environment. We need to take action by composting at home, at work and at school.

The environment belongs to all of us and it is therefore up to all of us as individuals, groups and businesses to lead by example and do our utmost to protect and enhance it.

I was pleased as part of Budget 2008 to announce $620,000 for year one of a three-year, $2 million Newfoundland and Labrador Green Fund, which will help support projects and feasibility studies that contribute to energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reductions. We invite environmental groups, businesses and the public to submit innovative proposals that have broad applications for achieving these reductions.

I encourage everyone to focus on sustaining our environment and participate in activities that promote composting this week. The national launch of Compost Awareness Week took place at MUN Botanical Gardens on Sunday, and they will host a variety of lectures and demonstrations throughout the week. For additional information on composting, please visit the MMSB�s Web site or call their office.