The clothes off your back...

Clothing and fabric are no longer accepted at City of Edmonton Recycling Depots. 

These textiles were collected to make recycled paper. The manufacturer, Greys Paper, has found other suppliers and so they no longer need this source of textiles.

Partnerships with hotels and other suppliers provide a source of linens that do not need to be sorted. Now that these relationships are well established, they provide a more cost-effective and efficient source of cotton for Greys Paper.

How do you reuse your old clothing? Post your story in the comments.

Waste Management Services encourages residents to donate their reusable clothing to one of the charitable organizations in our city. Organizations that accept clothing can be found at edmonton.ca/reusedirectory.

Some organizations also accept rag material or have agreements with cloth and textile recyclers, so check with your charity of choice before tossing that threadbare t-shirt! Contact your local shop for donation guidelines.

Of course, not all clothing needs to be tossed. A local tailor can help you with alterations, or take your minor repairs to an Edmonton Repairathon event for a free fix. Clothing too-damaged-to-wear can be cut into rags for cleaning, or put to good use for any number of crafts.

The Way We Green Speakers Series

The City of Edmonton co-sponsors talks on various sustainability topics, and most of them are free to attend!

Tzemporah Berman,
Canadian activist and author

Next up is Tzeporah Berman, Canadian activist and author, with This Crazy Time: Living Our Environmental Challenge.

There are two opportunities to catch this talk:

• Tuesday November 18th from 7-9 p.m. at the University of Alberta
• Wednesday November 19th from 12-1 p.m. at City Hall

Visit The Way We Green Speakers Series for more information and to view other presentations.

Re-Love Market - Closing the loop at MacEwan University

We all know that Edmonton is a world leader in waste management but what we don’t talk about enough is how it has taken the support of residents, community groups, and businesses to achieve this. For example, MacEwan University currently has a diversion rate of 63% and their goal is 90% diversion - right on track with the City of Edmonton.

One of their waste reduction initiatives is the Re-Love Market which reduces items going to landfill and lowers material costs to new students - a perfect win-win situation!

What Inspired the Re-Love Market?

Twice a year, during December and May, MacEwan University saw outgoing students throwing out useful items destined for landfill. Then, each January and December incoming students purchased new items to prepare for their life at MacEwan. What did the University and it’s students do about it? They decided it was time to close the loop with the ReLove Market. The event is designed to connect materials from students leaving campus to new students arriving.

How Does It Work?

The Re-Love Market is open to more than students. Community members can also donate items to the Re-Love Market, in exchange they will be given credits to purchase new items.

Future Waste Reduction Plans

The Re-Love Market was a great success and MacEwan plans on holding it each September and January to keep useful items associated with student moves out of the landfill.

Head of Sustainability, Chantal Beaudouin sees positive shifts towards waste reduction at MacEwan. Staff and students consider carefully alternatives to landfill for items they are throwing out. The next challenge will be a culture shift away from replacing those items with new purchases. An example of how MacEwan may help facilitate this shift is a program to make office supply reuse easy.

The City of Edmonton is collecting stories of how individuals, businesses, and community members reduce waste in Edmonton. Have a story to share?  

Email laura.henderson@edmonton.ca

Laura H. is an employee of the City of Edmonton Waste Management Services and MCR Graduate from the 2011 class.

Food Waste: From Table to Trash by Laura H.

I recently watched a movie as part of the Edmonton International Film Festival “Just Eat It”. The film was all about food waste and it’s reinvigorated my passion on the topic. What I took from the film was that individual actions in your home can make a big difference in the amount of food we throw out.  

A study released by Value Chain Management Centre in 2010 confirms that our actions at home count. It found that 51% of the food wasted in Canada comes from our homes. That is more than food wasted in restaurants, processing facilities and grocery stores combined.

I believe if we make a conscious effort to cut back on how many fruits, vegetables and other leftovers we let rot in our kitchen we can reduce our household garbage by up to 20%. That’s about the same amount that is diverted from the landfill by household recycling!

In the past year I’ve been making a real effort to cut back on food I buy and throw out. I’d like to share three things I’ve found actually work to reduce my wasted food (and money).

I’m proud that 90 per cent of households in Edmonton are recycling. That means that for many

residents, it’s time to go beyond recycling and using Eco Stations to reduce our waste.

We can all reach our goal of 90% waste from landfill and I believe reducing food waste in our homes will help us get there! 

October 20 to 26 is Waste Reduction Week in Canada. To celebrate, The City of Edmonton is collecting stories of how individuals, businesses, and community member reduce waste in Edmonton. Have a story to share? Email laura.henderson@edmonton.ca.

Laura H. is not only an employee at the City of Edmonton Waste Management Services, but she also graduated from the MCR program in 2011. Laura is full of energy and makes a huge impact in her community.

Every Homeowner Should Have a Composter! By MCR Trish H.

I bought a house last year moving from an apartment. What a lifestyle change! I was looking forward to having a garden, making the yard aesthetic, and growing food to eat. I was excited to learn composting as part of the experience. If I was getting a house, I wanted the whole package! I also wanted to get to know some of my neighbours. I was extremely fortunate to get into the Edmonton Master Composter Recycler Program ... like a dream come true.

During the winter, I found that the garbage in the house would get smelly because of the food waste thrown into it. In the apartment, I had just a small kitchen catcher that I would throw  into the outdoor bin. In a house, I had to have a larger garbage container and keep it in black bags for pickup once a week. As soon as I entered the house, I could smell the garbage. Once spring came, I obtained a free

black plastic composter and collected food wastes separately. Guess what? No more smell!

In the fall, I had the huge deck cut back to make more room for a garden. Being the thrifty person I
am, I thought about how I could reuse the wood. I had a garbage bin built from it, but there was still lots of wood left. I also used it to make a new matching back fence so had leftover wood from the newish but ugly previous back fence. I got new side fences built as they were a shambles. I had a few new fence boards leftover as well. All in all, I had a big pile of lumber taking up valuable space in my garage.

With a yard to care for, I quickly realized that a small compost bin just wasn’t going to be enough. I wanted a place to put my leaves in the fall and a place to throw garden waste, like greens and dying plants, and wanted to

keep the yard tidy throughout the year. As for the household food scraps, the black bin is sufficing for

the summer, but what about the winter household food scraps, what would I do with them? I am just starting a home business in natural therapies. What kind of impression would people have if they entered the house to smell garbage? That would be darn embarrassing and I didn’t want to go back to that! I tried worm composting but it didn’t suit me. What would I do? I was also enjoying having less garbage to dispose of as well. Another problem was that the quality of the garden soil wasn’t that great so the plants need something better.

Well, all of the problems have been solved! I used up the most of the leftover wood to build a bigger composter. In the fall, I will throw the leaves in it. I also plan to invite both of my immediate neighbours to put their leaves in the bin as well. There will be less mess with wind blowing leaves in my yard. I will have enough leaves to save some for use next summer to put in the black compost bin. I will stockpile the food scraps over the winter by letting them freeze outdoors, in the composter, or in the garage. I won’t have to bag any garden waste in the fall, and my plants will enjoy the rich soil from the composter. I also have the pride of knowing that I built it all by myself and proudly display it to others. I saved the scrap wood (previously living trees) from going to the dump and put it to good use! ... and my yard is tidy!

"Trish H. is a recent 2014 graduate from our MCR program and has hit the ground running. She's participated in our grasscycling championship, trade shows and loves to chat with friends and neighbours about waste."