By Tessa Swanton (Townson),
Bruce Peninsula Press
FoodCyclers: MNBP to Consider Subsidizing a New Method for Sustainable Food Waste Management
At the November 10th Council meeting, Council received a delegation from Farah Sheriffdeen from FoodCycle Science requesting that the Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula (MNBP) fully fund the FoodCycler Program for all MNBP residents with costs recovered through municipal property tax collection. She suggested the proposed fully subsidized program could appear as a recurring line item in the annual municipal budget. Farah said, “We recommend that the Municipality fully funds the food cycler program for households to maximum landfill diversion and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide an equitable service for residents.”
Currently, the Municipality has partnered with FoodCycle Science to launch two pilot projects offering the unit at a subsidized cost for a period of 12 weeks followed by survey participation. A FoodCycler is an alternative to indoor compost that dries and grinds food waste into a dry by-product that weighs less than its original state. The unit is described as quiet, compact, odorless, easy to clean and quick.
FoodCycle Science, a Canadian company based out of Ottawa comprised of food-based experts, engineers and scientists, have sold their trusted food solution to 180 municipalities across Canada. Sheriffdeen advised that the first pilot project resulted in 272 kg of diverted waste per household per year, the second pilot- 238 kg. She informed that MNBP residents rated the FoodCycler a 4.6 out of 5-star rating. She indicated that “across 180 households, 3645 garbage bags of food waste are being kept out of landfills each year.”
Sheriffdeen stated, “As NBP considers your path forward in organic waste management, it’s obvious that there is a gap in solutions for curbside green bin programs, while effective in more dense urban settings, really requires significant infrastructure and operational costs that aren’t always justifiable in a community like yours.”
Further, “backyard composting although valuable really faces barriers in terms of practice, it requires time, space and knowledge and often becomes unusable during our very long winters.” Survey data from over 6800 households says that only 37% use backyard composters and only 18% reported using them all year round.
Sheriffdeen explained that Ontario municipalities are facing growing pressure to manage waste more strategically, and poor disposal habits and landfill overuse are shortening landfill lifespans. “The FoodCycler program could divert 562 metric tons of food waste annually, significantly reducing landfill volume,” she said. Adopting the program as a budget item may allow MNBP to shift to biweekly garbage collection and substantially reduce curbside volumes, noted Sheriffdeen.
Deputy Mayor Rod Anderson expressed, “We do use it [FoodCycler] at our house and it makes a big difference in the amount of garbage going out, it is amazing.”
The FoodCyclers cost $339 per unit for the Eco 3- 3.5 litre model (suits a family of 2-3 people) and $449 per unit for the Eco 5 model. The units use as much hydro as a plugged-in laptop.
Councillor Laurie (Smokey) Golden said, “We are seeing more and more bears, and most people are being pretty good about their garbage, but the more organics we can get out of our garbage the better.”
It was mentioned that Council will need to investigate funding options and costs associated with introducing the program in a fully subsidized capacity for all residents.
Welcome to Tobermory App Proposal: Supporting Tourism Through an Artificial Intelligence Tech Solution
Tobermory Chamber of Commerce (TCC) spokespeople, Kent Wilkens, Darci Lombard, and Brian Woelfe presented two delegations to Council on November 10th outlining a Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) Strategic Plan and proposal to launch a Welcome to Tobermory (and Northern Bruce Peninsula) app.
An agreement between the MNBP and TCC indicates a 50/50 MAT net proceed split allowing the TCC to introduce new initiatives to continue advocating for local businesses and acting as a tourism information resource. The TCC operates the Tobermory and Ferndale Tourist Information Centres and Harbour Information Kiosks in downtown Tobermory and Lion’s Head.
In 2024, 24,432 visitors utilized tourism information services, the second highest recorded number of visitors since 2017, Canada’s 150th birthday celebration year. The TCC interacts with cruise ship companies touring the area and visitors, primarily from the United States and Germany, coming ashore to purchase products and services. Also, the addition of the new Lion’s Head Downtown Kiosk hopes to fill a gap in information services in the area.
Councillor Golden spoke to the Tourism Strategic Plan, “When I first read this, I’m so impressed. It’s a great picture for the future, it’s forward thinking, it’s comprehensive.”
The Treasurer reported that $590,000 before expenses has been collected annually to date as part of the MAT program.
Lombard requested a twice per year payment date of MAT funds to TCC to assist with planning and budgeting. Wilkens requested the 2026 paid parking season begin on June 15th and end on September 15th to allow travelers to return when paid parking is disabled and more spaces are available. He mentioned issues with paid parking enforcement, like visitors ticketed within minutes of parking and machines being troublesome.
Liwordson Vijayabalan, CEO of Welcome Platform Strategies, pitched a Welcome to Tobermory app to Council at a reduced annual cost of $20,000. The accessible app offers a personalized experience to each user based on a questionnaire to tailor information accordingly. The app includes information on attractions, food and drink, places to stay, concerts and events, maps, guides, custom itineraries, business directory, local stories, and more.
The app allows the Municipality to record demographics and interests and watch how the trends change over time. Vijayabalan said, “you’ll have data about visitors you’ve never had before.” The app has potential to attract visitors during shoulder seasons by engaging visitors through push notification. The use of NAVI A.I. allows visitors to use natural language to ask questions. He said, “very quickly a family can have a whole itinerary for a multi-day trip literally in five minutes.”
Mayor Milt McIver said, “Lots of information to provide to our visitors through this app…also an opportunity for us to gain some information back through surveys and things like that, sounds like a good idea.”
Lombard proposed that MNBP and TCC split the $20,000 app cost. If approved, the app should launch during the spring of 2026.
Council Revisits Cabot Head Road Options
After four options were presented by the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Peggy Van Mierlo-West, to address the status of Cabot Head Road, Council decided to investigate two options involving reopening the road on a controlled basis and/or converting the road to a non-motorized multi-use trail.
Councillor Golden said, “We need to see what’s viable, it’s historically important, we’re a tourism community, we do need to provide options for our visitors. It’s a defining asset to our community and we need to look at it in a sustainable manner; we have people that are very interested in helping us make that possible. We need to look at the costs for the road.”
Councillor Todd Dowd expressed, “There could be an opportunity for a multi-use trail in the summer, could have controlled vehicle traffic in the spring and fall and bike trails in the summer, open it up to a lot of people accessing a gem that’s just sitting there.”
A report from the CAO will be published at an upcoming meeting.
