The city of Yorkton wants people to mulch their grass instead of bagging it, and this year they've had the first contest to encourage people to take an environmentally friendly approach to their lawn care. The inner of the first "Don't Bag it, Mulch It!" contest was Garry Shury of 115 Bailey Drive.
Shury won the contest for having a lawn that not only looked good, but was maintained in an environmentally friendly way, with an emphasis on using grass clippings as mulch instead of going into the landfill. Shury uses his clippings both as compost and as a way to fertilize and make pathways in his garden.
As the winner of the contest, Shury takes home a Honda lawnmower from Logan Stevens, something he says he definitely needs.
"The timing was great, because I think the lawnmower I've got now is about 15 years old. But it's a great program, and I hope the people of Yorkton support it in the future."
Living in an environmentally friendly manner is a priority for the Shury family, and he says that between compost and the recycle program their home puts very little into the landfill. He also notes that when walking in their neighborhood, his wife likes to pick up discarded cups and other garbage to keep the streets clean.
"We live in too much of a throwaway society, and these landfills take up a lot of room and there's a lot of stuff that goes into landfills that probably shouldn't. We can find a much better way to dispose of a lot of our unused stuff and don't destroy the environment."
Stephen Rosowsky, chairperson of the city's environmental committee, says that the contest began because the city sees an excess of grass clippings going into the landfill, and it's unnecessary given what can be done with the clippings.
The plan is to continue the contest in 2015, and Rosowsky says they hope to see more people taking part in the contest.
