Time to Save Your Eggshells by MCR Maria K.

As an avid gardener and Master Composter Recycler (class of 2007), I’ve learned a lot of wonderful garden tips that have helped to reduce the work of our City’s waste collectors. Here’s a small and simple trick, one of my favourites, that I employ every year, all year long, and it’s really easy!

There’s an ice cream pail under my kitchen sink, all year, for eggshells. Why? Because they are an excellent mineral resource and slug discourager. I don’t even bother to wash them because I find they dry out in the pail. When my pail gets full, I take a potato masher and mash them down so that I can add more. By spring planting, I usually have a pail or two that are at least three-quarters full. (My family likes eggs, what can I say?)

Eggshells have nice sharp edges, so I use them pretty liberally wherever I plant lettuce and other veggies that slugs consider tender vittles. Basically, I plant the seeds in the soil, and cover the seed bed with eggshells, and the plants find their way through, no problem. In a few weeks, it looks quite pretty, eggshells with greens.

Tomato plants, in particular, really appreciate the calcium from mashed eggshells. I try to keep some on hand at all times and use a few hand-fulls wherever I see slug trails in my yard. You could say my slug population has really decreased over the last ten years!

And here’s a little bonus tip: When you get your hair cut, ask for the trimmings. Turns out hair is a nice source of slow-release nitrogen – another favourite snack of most plants.

Why give away eggshells and hair clippings (pet fur, too) when they are great resources for growing things?

Even if you’re not a gardener, chances are that you know someone who is. Offering them your eggshells is a great conversation starter about waste reduction. Why not try it?

Visit edmonton.ca/compost

Maria K. is an MCR who is all about living simply, reducing consumption and waste, gardening, and feeding the soil we depend on for good food. She has more Simple Suggestions at simplemoodlings.blogspot.ca.

     

Friends & Colleagues at the MCR Townhall

Thanks to all the MCRs, MCRs-in-Training, and 2018 Candidates at the MCR Townhall Meeting.

It was great to see friends, new and old.

Front: Sunil & Julie
Row 2: Chidi., Elaine, Bana, Majida, Melissa, Coleen & Helene
Row 3: Erika, Katie, Yohie, Pam, Maria & Sarah
Row 3: Tammy, Hetal, Jocelyn, Mildred, Pat, Marx, Kayla & Cayley
Back: Hetal, Kory, Rodney, Suzy, Neil, Christine, Gordon, Liz, Bronwen, Terry, Nicole, Gaby, & Mark

We covered a lot of ground in a couple hours.

Waste Strategy Update
We discussed the Strategy Update presented to Utility Committee on February 23rd. Click here to read the strategy, the minutes, and documents. You can also watch the discussion.

Utility Committee approved the Strategy Update, in principle. The proposals go to City Council for more discussion on March 20th.

Improving the MCR Program
MCRs gave feedback about improving the program and helping MCRs be even more effective.
Some specific topics were:

• easy ways to record volunteering, 
• how to stay active as MCRs, and
• how to show friends & colleagues that we are waste experts

     

Tell One Friend: Refuse the Refuse

Let's face it: It's hard to say no to stuff. It's especially hard when the item is a gift, offered as a well-meaning gesture.

Say you visit your dentist. You are thrilled to get a new tooth brush but you don't need the floss (and the packaging with it). How to refuse the floss, politely?

Saying NO is hard in the first place, but it's one of the best ways to reduce waste.

Saying NO to swag, "finisher" t-shirts, and samples at the grocery store can be tricky. Balance courtesy to others along with your own goal to reduce waste.

Just like anything, saying NO takes practice. As an MCR, you can show others how to do this well.

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What's Your Secret?

Well-Meaning Swag

• Does refusing the refuse work for you?

• How to you decline politely, without hurting someone's feelings?

• Do you have a success story to share?

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Visit edmonton.ca/waste to learn What Goes Where.
Next Tell One Friend: Set up an Eco Station Box

Previous Tell One Friend: Put Styrofoam in the Garbage

     

Tell One Friend: Put Styrofoam in the Garbage

It's one of the most commonly asked questions: "Can I put Styrofoam in my blue bag for recycling?"

Styrofoam is difficult to recycle economically because it is extremely light and bulky. This makes it difficult to collect, sort, and transport to recyclers. Instead, the City of Edmonton intends to use Styrofoam as feedstock for the Waste to Biofuels Facility, where it will be turned into ethanol.

Let's be clear with friends, neighbours, and co-workers. Recycling works well, when we recycle right. Put Styrofoam in the garbage.

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Tell your friends, family, neighbours, and co-workers.

One Small Ask
"Will you put Styrofoam in the garbage?
Not in your blue bag.”

Prompt Them
Label at your recycling. "Thank you for NOT wish-cycling"

Give Feedback
"Hey, I noticed that you put Styrofoam in the recycling, months ago, but now you are putting it in the garbage. That's great. It helps our recycling system a lot.”

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The Reuse Centre also takes some types of Styrofoam. Save your Styrofoam balls, cubes, and sheets and bring them to the Reuse Centre.

Visit edmonton.ca/waste to learn What Goes Where.
Next Tell One Friend: Refuse the Refuse
Previous Tell One Friend: Take Christmas Decor to the Reuse Centre

     

Edmonton Waste Management Centre Welcomes Their First Artist-in-Residence, Leanne Olson

The Edmonton Waste Management Centre (EWMC) is a unique collection of advanced waste processing and research facilities where municipal waste is transformed into useful resources. The Centre is 233 hectares in size; the Composting Facility alone occupies space equivalent to almost five football fields. On average, 4,500 trucks bearing 9,800 tonnes of material cross the scale every week. Over 15,000 students, teachers and adults tour the Centre each year.

“We’re excited for this opportunity to host an artist-in-residence at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre,” said Michael Robertson, contract manager with the City of Edmonton’s Materials Recovery Facility. “Leanne’s passion for capturing change in the natural world connects to our goals of waste reduction and environmental stewardship. I think that her work here will provide a fresh perspective on waste and a new way to engage with Edmonton residents and our staff.”

In September, the Edmonton Arts Council and the City of Edmonton put out the call for an artist to take residency at this massive municipal waste facility. More than 25 local artists applied for the opportunity, and due to her artistic focus and environmental interests, local artist Leanne Olson was ultimately selected for the position.

Olson is a photo-based artist born in Toronto and raised in Edmonton. In 2002, she received a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Film & Media Studies from the University of Alberta. Olson also has a history of working and engaging with the community, with experience as a lead artist in the print studio at the Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts and as an ongoing community art project facilitator with the Bissell Centre in Edmonton.

Click Here to see more of Leanne's work & read her interview