Garry Shury of Yorkton is the winner of the City's first "Don't Bag it-Mulch it!" contest.
The winner was announced by Mayor Bob Maloney and Stephen Rosowsky, Chair of the City's Environmental Committee at a news conference Monday.
Environmental Committee member Rosowsky said the idea for the contest came as they came to recognize landfill "volumes spike up about 40 per cent in the summer mainly grass."
It was hoped a contest would promote composting, diverting grass and other materials from the landfill.
Shury called the initiative "a great program." He said in his case he has "been composting a lot of years," including grass clippings and other household wastes, using the resulting product as a garden fertilizer.
"I hope people in Yorkton support it, and do more of it."
Logan Stevens Construction donated the prize, a new Honda mulching mower. Residents of the city signed up to showcase how healthier lawns can be achieved by using grass clippings as natural fertilizer, rather than bagging them and sending clippings to the landfill. Shury was selected for having the best overall lawn and green lawn care practices of all 11 participants.
Rosowsky said the plan is to repeat the contest in 2015.
The program was initiated by the City's Environmental Committee. Members of the committee include: Stephen Rosowsky, Tom Courville, Doug Kitsch, Mayor Bob Maloney, Keith Perkins, Councillor Chris Wyatt, Corvyn Neufeld and Stefan Bymak.
Rosowsky said the Committee has "unofficially been around about 12-years," evolving into the current form more recently as a group providing background and recommendations to Council.
