Category: News

Meet Bowen Macy!

December 4, 2024

Hey Wormies!

We’re thrilled to introduce Bowen Macy, one of the newest members of the Compost Education Centre’s board of directors! With a wealth of experience in sustainability, community engagement, and event organizing, Bowen brings a dynamic and creative perspective to the team. His passion for sustainability and building connections in local communities aligns perfectly with the CEC’s mission. We sat down with Bowen to learn more about his journey, his love for composting, and his vision for the future of the Centre.

How did you first hear about the CEC?

Walking by (and being nosey!) I moved to town about 3 years ago and live just down the road. I saw the CEC while en route to Little June, popped in, and proceeded to ask one million questions! 

What is your favourite thing about the CEC?

I love how they bring people together to both learn practical skills such as making kimchi or canning jam while also learning about environmental justice and building a connection to the land. 

What made you want to join the board?

I love what the CEC does and wanted to help out! I’m excited to support the CEC as they continue providing such important programming. I’m also looking forward to seeing the CEC continue to be a place where folks can gather in a green and welcoming environment. More coffees and tea in the garden!

Oh, and also the board meetings always have really good snacks so that is another reason 🙂

What are you currently reading and listening to?

A friend gave me Red Deal: Indigenous Actions to Save our Earth, which I just started and am on a speed run to finish. Indigenous folks have been such caring stewards of this land for so long it’s really just a no-brainer to be following their lead.

I’ve been listening to a bunch of my mom’s old CDs. She gave me a big binder of them from the early 2000s. There’s everything from Massive Attack to Rage Against the Machine to PJ Harvey to Angélique Kidjo to Grace Jones. I’m planning to start mixing them into my CFUV radio show (insert shameless plug about Third Place Radio on 101.9FM Thursdays at 3pm here!). 

Who’s someone that made a big impact on your life?

Well, that would be my mom. Besides helping shape my taste in music she showed me what it looks like to live with integrity and authenticity. From before I could walk, she would bring me along with her to pick tomatoes from the garden, hike through the forest, or march in a climate protest. Still to this day it completely baffles me how she was able to do so much, but I’m so grateful for her. Love you, Mom!

How can people get involved with the CEC?

So many ways! I think the workshops are a great place to start, and there are quite a few that are free as well. If you’ve got a project around gardening to sustainable living, their hotline (250-386-WORM) is a great resource as well. And then if you really want to get your hands dirty (literally!), there is an amazing group of volunteers that you could join!

Join our Board!

August 9, 2024

We are looking for individuals with a variety of perspectives, skills, and experience to join our Board of Directors.

Share your passion for composting, ecological conservation, and food justice! 

The Compost Education Centre’s vision is to cultivate resilient communities, which enable the land and all living beings to thrive. Our mission is to reconnect people, young and old, to land-based resilience-building practices related to composting, ecological gardening, and conservation. Our organizational practices sustain the organization, the natural environment, and our communities. We actively work towards right relations, anti-oppression, and environmental justice in solidarity with the Indigenous peoples on whose land we work. Our core values are reciprocity, adaptability, curiosity, joy, and groundedness. 

Benefits of Participating 

• Fantastic opportunity to build experience in organizational growth, not-for-profit, and charity work
• Connect and collaborate with a dedicated team that is passionate about waste reduction, soil conservation, local food production, and the intersections between food, land, and environmental justice
• Training and leadership development opportunities on topics including soil conservation and composting, team building, social enterprise development, event coordination, sustainable living skills, and DEI
• Contribute to the wellbeing of your community, local ecosystems, and the broader environment

Helpful Skills and Experience 

• A love for composting, food and environmental justice, urban agriculture, waste diversion, and soil health! 
• Familiarity with non-profits including prior experience on or working with a Board of Directors 
• Leadership experience 
• Fundraising experience and familiarity with revenue generation in non-profit structures 

Board of Directors FAQs 

What is a Board of Directors? The Board is responsible for setting mission and strategic direction, providing high-level oversight, and serving as ambassadors of the organization. The CEC’s Board is a dynamic team focused on supporting the organization’s mission. 

What would I do as a Board member? You attend board meetings every month and may join a committee to work on additional projects (e.g. Fundraising, DEI initiatives, etc.). You commit to a two-year term consisting of an average of 5-10 hours of work per month. 

Can anyone become a Board Member? Yes! To join the Board, you have to become a member before October 6, communicate your interest by filling out the form below, and attend our AGM on Thursday, November 7, 2024 to get nominated. If the cost of membership is a barrier to you becoming a Board Member and/or there are other barriers you have identified, please reach out to Claire at [email protected] to discuss accommodations. 

What are the perks of joining the Board? Volunteering with a charitable non-profit organization provides practical work skills. It’s also a way to meet very cool and like-minded folks from other professions and disciplines. You also get awesome snacks at every board meeting, and we do staff and board dinners once or twice a year. 

Are Board Members paid? Unfortunately, no. The BC Societies Act prohibits us from paying Board Members. These positions are volunteer. 

Fill out the form below to apply. 

Fall Plant Sale Fast Approaching!

July 25, 2024

The Compost Education Centre (CEC) is hosting our annual all-organic Fall plant sale! August 10, 10am-12pm!

The plant sale will take place in our site at 1216 North Park street. Stay for a while and enjoy bike pedal-powered music in the garden. Entry by donation or free for CEC members. Dogs welcome.

The Fall Organic Plant sale features veggie starts that are perfect for your overwintering vegetable garden.

What you can look forward to:

• A selection of annual vegetables suitable for fall and winter growing

• Native plants for your low maintenance garden

• Perennial edibles like berry bushes and other fruiting shrubs

• Medicinal herbs like English lavender, chamomile and yarrow

• Live bicycle powered music!

The Compost Education Centre is located on unceded and occupied Indigenous territories, specifically the land of the Lekwungen speaking people—the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations. These nations are two of many, made up of individuals who have lived within the porous boundaries of what is considered Coast Salish, Nuu-Chah-Nulth and Kwakwa’wakw Territory (Vancouver Island) since time immemorial. At the CEC we seek to respect, honour and continually grow our own understandings of Indigenous rights and history, and to fulfill our responsibilities as settlers, who live and work directly with the land and its complex, vital ecologies and our diverse, evolving communities.

Compost Education Centre memberships get you free workshops, discounts at garden centres around town and more great perks! Sign up or learn more on our website.

Accessibility Information

The Compost Education Centre is committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive experience for all our community members.

Getting to the Compost Education Centre

The Compost Education Centre is located at 1216 North Park St. The closest bus stops are:

• Pandora Ave at Chambers St (Stop ID: 100169) (300 meters away) served by Routes 2, 5, 27, and 28;
• Cook St at Balmoral Rd (Stop ID: 100160) (350 meters away) served by Routes 24 and 25;
• Fernwood Rd at Grant St (Stop ID: 100227) (450 meters away) served by Route 22; and
• Bay St at Cedar Hill (Stop ID: 103733) (750 meters away) served by Route 10.

A bus transit planner is available on the BC Transit website (https://www.bctransit.com/victoria/).

The Compost Education Centre is accessible by bicycle, and there is ample bike parking available. Bike routes are visible on the CRD website (https://maps.crd.bc.ca/Html5Viewer/?viewer=BikeMap).

Parking

Parking is very limited. The closest parking options during the week are:

• Two 2-hour parking spots at the corner of North Park St and Chambers St (50 meters away);
• Three 2-hour parking spots at Haegert Park (100 meters away);
• One 1-hour parking spot at the corner of North Park St and Cook St (250 meters away);
• Multiple 1-hour parking spots on Gladstone Ave opposite the Fernwood Community Centre (300 meters away); and
• One 1-hour parking spot at the corner of Caledonia Ave and Cook St (350 meters away).

All other parking within 400 meters of the Compost Education Centre is residential-only. While construction is occurring adjacent to the Compost Education Centre at 1211 Gladstone Ave (projected to be complete in June 2025), parking is even more limited.

On Saturdays, parking is available in the Victoria High School parking lots that are accessible off Grant St and Gladstone Ave. From these parking lots, it is less than a 300 meter walk to the Compost Education Centre.

Site Accessibility

The Compost Education Centre site has paths made of wood chips. Mobility devices with wheels (such as wheelchairs, walkers etc.) are sometimes difficult to use on site. The Strawbale learning classroom is accessed via a wooden ramp, and it has a wide double door and a ramp leading up to it. Once inside the Strawbale, the floor is a level hard surface. There is a single-stall gender-neutral washroom on site. The washroom is not wheelchair accessible. There is a wooden ramp up to the washroom door and a small step over the doorframe into the washroom. The retail space is not wheelchair accessible; there are four steps up into our retail space.

Meet Emily!

July 4, 2024

Hi everyone!

My name is Emily, I’m the new Child and Youth Education Assistant at the CEC, and I’m very excited to be working here for the summer! While originally from the territories of the Anishinaabe Mississauga peoples out East, I have been living on these lands for the past 7 years. As a graduate from the Geography and Indigenous Studies departments at UVic, my experience and interests lie primarily in community-based research, environmental education, and climate justice.

My interest in working with the CEC came from a passion for projects that help support healthy and reciprocal relationships to the land, as well as instilling these values in the hearts and minds of our society’s youngest members.

In my free time you’ll find me gardening, climbing, practicing my Spanish, and trying to entertain my very needy cat. Besides helping with the Child and Youth Education Program, I’ll be spending my time with Zoe-Blue working on some fun communications materials. Come find me in the office and garden; I love a good chat, especially when it’s about Native plants!

Spring Plant Sale happening soon!

April 19, 2024

The Compost Education Centre (CEC) is hosting our annual all-organic May plant sale! May 11th, 2024 10AM-2PM

The plant sale will take place in Haegert Park (1202 Yukon St.) one block from our site on North Park street. Bring a blanket or a picnic so you can enjoy the music in the shade of the giant Sequoia tree. Entry by donation or free for CEC members. Dogs welcome.

The Spring Organic Plant Sale features local farmers offering a wide variety of organically grown vegetable, flower and herb seedlings to get you off to a successful start this growing season.

There will also be a Parent-Child workshop taking place during the sale, from 11:00am-12:00pm so bring the whole family!

What you can look forward to:

• The largest selection of organically grown heirloom tomato varieties all in one place for easy shopping

• Organically grown vegetable starts from arugula to zucchini

• Native plants for your low maintenance garden

• Perennial edibles like berry bushes and other fruiting shrubs

• Medicinal herbs like English lavender, chamomile and yarrow

• Culinary herbs like Genovese basil, dill and chives

• Companion plants like marigolds, sweet cicely and comfrey

• Live bicycle powered music!

The Compost Education Centre is located on unceded and occupied Indigenous territories, specifically the land of the Lekwungen speaking people—the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations. These nations are two of many, made up of individuals who have lived within the porous boundaries of what is considered Coast Salish, Nuu-Chah-Nulth and Kwakwa’wakw Territory (Vancouver Island) since time immemorial. At the CEC we seek to respect, honour and continually grow our own understandings of Indigenous rights and history, and to fulfill our responsibilities as settlers, who live and work directly with the land and its complex, vital ecologies and our diverse, evolving communities.

Compost Education Centre memberships get you free workshops, discounts at garden centres around town and more great perks! Sign up or learn more on our website.

Accessibility Information

The sale will be happening in Haegert park which is grassy and slightly sloped, there are curb cuts at various entrance points to get into the park.

Visitors can park at the Vic High parking lot between Gladstone Avenue and Grant St. The parking lot is a 200m walk from Haegert Park.

We’re hiring a Site Assistant!

April 10, 2024

The Site Assistant reports to the Site Manager. The Site Assistant is responsible for the garden stewardship at the CEC’s demonstration gardens and various other urban gardens in the Victoria area in partnership with the CEC’s Site Manager as well as the coordination of the volunteer program across the organization.

Applications due May 26th

Interested in Applying? Click here

Kayla Siefried, a finalist for Charity Village Award

December 6, 2023

Our Site Manager and Community Education Coordinator, Kayla Siefried was a top finalist for the Charity Village awards, in the category of Most Outstanding Individual Impact. 

As an expert educator and ground leader, Kayla teaches others to do as she says and what she does. In her time at the CEC she has taught 946 workshops to 16,127 childen, youth, and adults on topics related to composting, food preservation, and gardening.

When asked to describe his experience learning from Kyla, a former workshop attendee wrote:

“For the past two years, Kayla has been my invaluable gardening mentor, guiding me through this journey with unwavering expertise and passion. Her exceptional communication skills have not only helped me immensely but have also benefited our entire class. I owe her a profound debt of gratitude, as there’s no one I’ve learned more from about gardening than her.”

We are grateful to have Kayla on staff at the Compost Education Centre.

By Zoe-Blue Coates, Office Manager and Communications Coordinator

Finalist for Nature Inspiration Awards

September 21, 2023

Healing City Soils is a finalist for the Canadian Museum of nature’s Community Action Nature Inspiration Award!  The award celebrates community groups who show leadership in taking action to protect wildlife and habitats, training volunteers and citizen-scientists, or in developing new educational programs for children and adults. The Healing City Soils program analyzes the CRD’s soil health, researches how native plants can be used to remediate contaminated soils, and provides plain language resources and resources to households interested in growing their food safely. 

The Red Wriggler Revue movie night September 28

September 14, 2023

Mites! Camera! Action!

The Compost Education Centre will be hosting the first Red Wriggler Revue on September 28th from 6:30-9. Come by for a screening of the 1998 Pixar classic, A Bug’s Life! Admission is by donation and there will be popcorn for sale. We invite you to bring other snacks and wear something cozy.

Accessibility: The pathways of the garden are comprised of woodchips. There is also about a 1″ step between the bathroom platform and the bathroom. There is wheelchair-accessible parking located directly outside of the Centre along North Park Street. There are three hoses with potable water located on site. There is a ramp into the strawbale building, chairs will be provided.