2015 Annual Report The Compost Education Centre (CEC) is a project of the Victoria Compost and Conservation Education Society which is a not-for-profit, charitable organization. Started in 1992 by the Fernwood Community Association, the CEC provides composting and conservation education to Capital Regional District (CRD) resi-dents with the goals of reducing waste and improving local soils through the use of compost. The CEC promotes organic gardening as a means of reducing the health and environmental effects of chemical gardening practices as well as pro-moting the health, environmental and social benefits of local food production.

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New Site Signs New education signage was created in collaboration with the Brian Slater

from the CRD and Island Blue. The new signage creates a more interactive,

accurate and attractive self-guided tour for members of the public to learn

about composting, organic gardening, rainwater harvesting and more as they

walk through the site. Two large signs were created to draw the attention of

people walking/driving by and to increase awareness of our location - one on

the corner of Chambers/North Park that clearly states who we are and one by

the front gate that provides an overview of what happens at the CEC, a terri-

tory acknowledgment and a map showcasing all the amazing

things happening on our tiny yet amazing site!

ICA Elder Knowledge Project Partnership

This project with the Inter-Cultural Association (ICA) brought

together ethno-cultural seniors and members, young and old, to

learn from each other, create new friendships and raise aware-

ness of the importance of growing and eating food close to

home through workshops at the CEC and farm tours. As well,

our Site Manager Alysha represented the CEC as a community

partner to UVIC's Edible Geography class to create a map that

shows where newcomers can access the foods they want in Vic-

toria. The finished map has been extremely well-received by the

food security community and now hangs in the ICA's building

where visitors can easily interact with it.

Soil Superstars

In 2015 we developed Soil Superstars, a workshop

focused on soil science and stewardship, for students

in grades 1-3. Discovery based activities encourage

students to unearth the ways soil is part of almost

everything around us, and a key part of healthy

ecosystems.

2015 Highlights

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Education Programs In 2015 we continued to teach thousands of children and adults about

composting, soil, and growing food.

We taught a total of 871 adults in 55 workshops and presented 107

school programs to 2,398 students and teachers.

School Programs by Municipality

Saanich (35)

Victoria (33)

Oak Bay (10)

Colwood (6)

Esquimalt (6)

Sooke (6)

Central Saanich (4)

North Saanich (4)

View Royal (2)

Sidney (1)

What teachers and students are saying about our programs

“The workshop supplemented our studies related to environmental stewardship and helped stu-

dents understand what compost is. They particularly loved the exploratory part of the garden

where they got to taste a few different plants.”

“I liked the compost because it smells like lollipops!”

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To request a full copy of the CEC’s unaudited Financial Statements please email info@compost.bc.ca

2015 Financials

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Summary of Programs and Services

In 2015, the Compost Education Centre (CEC) delivered 107 school presentations to 2726 children from preschool

to Grade 12, and facilitated 35 community workshops on topics from Composting Basics to Soil Science 101and

Mushroom Garden Pathways. Over 6,500 Capital Regional District (CRD) residents visited the CEC’s demonstration

site or participated in one of its 44 educational community events and compost demonstrations.

The CEC hosted five core community events in 2015, including a Spring and Fall Organic Plant Sale, Rainwater Har-

vesting Education Day , Soil Education Day and Mushroom Education Day. The CEC supported the first year of the

Capital Region-wide food waste ban by heavily promoting on-site food waste diversion using backyard composting

and food waste digesters and increasing our services to the rural regions of Sooke and the Gulf Islands. The CEC

reached a total of 183,785 residents in 2015through all avenues of our educational mandate, an increase of 200%

from 2011. Since 1992, the GVCEC has made over 1,015,858 contacts with CRD residents.!

Funders

Capital Regional District City of Victoria Province of British Columbia United Way Greater Victoria 1% For The Planet Foundation

Flow Through Fund Horne Coupar Law Hummingbird Foundation Victoria Foundation HRDCS (Canada Student Summer

Jobs Program)

Additional Revenue

Organic Plant Sale Sales of composters Event Fundraising School programs Community workshops Memberships Donations

Individual Donors

Arash Baradaran Connie Charnell David Greig Catherine Ince Shauna Johnson Roy Kendall Wendy O’Connor Ann Peters Grace Seabrook Amity Skala Sarah Zimmermann John Sutherland

Cash and In-kind Donations

Black Press Chatterblock D.I.Y Fungi Hoyne Brewery Big Barn Garden Centre Borden Mercantile Ellice Recycle Danica Nursery Dig This Fernwood NRG Fernwood Community Association Garden Works Little Elf Garden Centre Meadow Oak Nursery Soap Exchange Mason Street City Farm Van Isle Water Systems

Fundraising and Donor Recognition We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from our funders, community partners, and Compost Club mem-

bers who help us to deliver high quality educational programming within our vibrant Capital Regional District. In ad-

dition to funds received from the Capital Regional District and the City of Victoria, the following sources of funding

were obtained in 2015:

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Board of Directors

Chair: Nik Hill

Vice Chair: Marion Wylie

Treasurer: David Neate

Secretary: Janet Hockin

Member at large: Tamara Chirovsky

Capital Regional District Representative: Wendy Dunn

Staff

Executive Director: Marika Smith

Site Manager: Alysha Punnett

Office Manager: Clare Pepper

Education Coordinator: Jen Storey

Summer Intern: Emily Bellinger

Message from the Executive Director The Compost Education Centre is about to have its 24th birthday, and

during that time we have grown into a trusted and valuable community

resource hub for urban food production, soil conservation and on-site

composting. Together with our dedicated staff, Board of Directors and fabulous

volunteers, we annually reach over 180,000 CRD residents with our educational

services and practical solutions for living more sustainably. In 2015 we launched

a new school workshop called Soil Superstars for grades 1-3. Together as a class,

the children learn how soil is part of the food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the houses we live

in! Hands-on, discovery-based activities connect youth to the ground beneath our feet while encouraging them to

become soil stewards.

We believe that we can grow the seeds of community through accessible and valuable education programs that em-

power CRD residents to become more self-sufficient and lower their carbon footprint. The CEC is proud to be an ed-

ucational resource for composting, organic food growing and teaching children and adults to be stewards of our

beautiful and diverse natural resources. We look forward to another fruitful year and welcome everyone to our

beautiful urban oasis in the heart of Fernwood in Victoria BC.