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Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Concerned about summer weight? Your collector is!
Friday, May 23, 2014
Take a peek into Edmonton's world-class waste management centre
In celebration of Environment Week, the City of Edmonton invites residents to come for a free tour of the Edmonton Waste Management Centre (EWMC) and see why Edmonton is a world leader in turning waste into resources.
Dates: Tuesday, June 3 – Friday, June 6, 2014
Tour Times: 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Location: Edmonton Waste Management Centre, 13111 Meridian Street
Admission: Free
Reservations are required. Please call: 780-496-5698.
During a two-hour tour of the facilities you can learn how:
- Your recyclables are sorted and prepared for market
- Your garbage is used to create valuable compost at one of North America’s largest composting facilities
- Decomposing garbage inside a landfill is used to create electricity
- E-waste such as computers and TVs are recycled
- A new waste-to-biofuels facility will turn non-recyclable and non-compostable waste into ethanol
- Close-loop paper recycling takes place, producing chemical-free paper
Please note that tours are not appropriate for children younger than nine years of age.
For more information:
Visit Environment Week Tours or call 780-496-5698
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Be a Better Jet Setter, by MCRs Sam P. and Leigh-Anna P.
How to Reduce Waste While Travelling
Before we started the MCR course, we had planned a road trip down the Pacific Coast. We love to travel, and get very excited at the prospect of relaxing and enjoying new places. Within the first few classes of our course, we started to become more aware of how wasteful travel can be and came up with an idea. We would use our road trip as an opportunity to change our own behaviours and educate others about how to reduce waste while away from home!
While planning our environmentally-conscious trip, we quickly learned that the key to reducing our waste while on the road was planning ahead. Here are some of the most beneficial ideas we came up with:
1. Make a packing list. Forgetting to pack personal items is an easy way to increase waste by buying and consuming more products. Being prepared will not only reduce your stress prior to and during the trip but it will also decrease the amount of packaging waste created on your trip.
2. Bring toiletries in reusable containers. Travel size toiletries are convenient and take up less space in your bag, but they produce a lot more waste than buying regular-sized or bulk bottles. Plus, those little bottles rarely get recycled. They're usually too small to make it through the machine sorting process, even in places that have comprehensive plastics recycling. If you're buying them, plan on saving them to refill for your next trip.
Pro tip: Avoid the urge to use the toiletries in the hotel washrooms. If the hotel staff notice that even the smallest amount of product is used, they will throw out the whole bottle, wasting a lot of product and packaging.
3. Bring a reusable water bottle and travel mug. Disposable coffee cups add up, especially on a road trip! As an added bonus, the reusable mugs keep your coffee hot for longer as an added bonus. You can even bring a reusable beverage container on a plane as long as it is empty when you go through security.
4. Plan meals ahead of time. Takeout food creates a lot of waste from plastic or Styrofoam containers. Prepare meals and snacks at home, or bring reuseable containers and cutlery for takeout. Cloth napkins will save the amount of paper you use up, and they work wonders for spills and kids! Try grocery shopping instead of always eating at restaurants, and if it's in the budget, choose sit-down places to avoid being served on disposable dishes.
5. Research the waste process of the destination you’re visiting. You don't have to go crazy, but it helps to know what items you are going to be able to recycle and whether the city you are in has a municipal compost system. In places that don’t have recycling or have limited recycling, save your recyclables to dispose of them when you get home! If you're extra keen, you can save organic material in a leak proof container to compost when you return.
6. Use alternative transportation. Explore your destination in a unique and exciting way! Public transportation, like the bus or subway, is an easy, Earth-friendly travel method. Renting bicycles and walking are pleasant ways to explore the city or town at your own pace. In larger cities, bicycle taxis are great ways to explore downtown without creating excess pollution.
These ideas are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to reducing your waste while travelling. Get creative and look for opportunities to reduce waste all along your trip. It’s very easy to get caught up in the excitement of travelling and let your waste habits take a backseat to convenience, but it’s important that we make conscious choices with our garbage. The place you're visiting is beautiful; help keep it that way! We all want to continue to have an amazing, waste-free world to travel for years to come.
Samantha P. and Leigh-Anna P. took the MCR course together in 2014 and jumped straight into volunteering. Between the two of them, they've hosted booths, joined pop-up compost sessions, and done a whole lot of chit-chatting about waste.
Do you have any fantastic less-waste tips for travelers? Share them in the comments below!
Before we started the MCR course, we had planned a road trip down the Pacific Coast. We love to travel, and get very excited at the prospect of relaxing and enjoying new places. Within the first few classes of our course, we started to become more aware of how wasteful travel can be and came up with an idea. We would use our road trip as an opportunity to change our own behaviours and educate others about how to reduce waste while away from home! While planning our environmentally-conscious trip, we quickly learned that the key to reducing our waste while on the road was planning ahead. Here are some of the most beneficial ideas we came up with:
1. Make a packing list. Forgetting to pack personal items is an easy way to increase waste by buying and consuming more products. Being prepared will not only reduce your stress prior to and during the trip but it will also decrease the amount of packaging waste created on your trip.
2. Bring toiletries in reusable containers. Travel size toiletries are convenient and take up less space in your bag, but they produce a lot more waste than buying regular-sized or bulk bottles. Plus, those little bottles rarely get recycled. They're usually too small to make it through the machine sorting process, even in places that have comprehensive plastics recycling. If you're buying them, plan on saving them to refill for your next trip.
Pro tip: Avoid the urge to use the toiletries in the hotel washrooms. If the hotel staff notice that even the smallest amount of product is used, they will throw out the whole bottle, wasting a lot of product and packaging.
3. Bring a reusable water bottle and travel mug. Disposable coffee cups add up, especially on a road trip! As an added bonus, the reusable mugs keep your coffee hot for longer as an added bonus. You can even bring a reusable beverage container on a plane as long as it is empty when you go through security.  |
| Pick up some local produce to snack on |
4. Plan meals ahead of time. Takeout food creates a lot of waste from plastic or Styrofoam containers. Prepare meals and snacks at home, or bring reuseable containers and cutlery for takeout. Cloth napkins will save the amount of paper you use up, and they work wonders for spills and kids! Try grocery shopping instead of always eating at restaurants, and if it's in the budget, choose sit-down places to avoid being served on disposable dishes.
5. Research the waste process of the destination you’re visiting. You don't have to go crazy, but it helps to know what items you are going to be able to recycle and whether the city you are in has a municipal compost system. In places that don’t have recycling or have limited recycling, save your recyclables to dispose of them when you get home! If you're extra keen, you can save organic material in a leak proof container to compost when you return.
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| Many cities offer bike rentals |
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| Keep it gorgeous! |
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Do you have any fantastic less-waste tips for travelers? Share them in the comments below!
Monday, May 12, 2014
Go Bagless: The No. 1 Way to Reduce Your Waste
The City of Edmonton is asking residents to Go Bagless this summer and leave the grass clippings on the lawn instead of bagging them for collection. Grass clippings account for almost half the waste collected during the summer months.
“Edmonton is making progress on its goal of keeping 90% of household waste out of landfills,” says Mayor Don Iveson. “This goal will be achieved if we all make an effort to reduce the amount of waste that needs to be picked up.”
An average household that bags their clippings sets out 40 to 50 bags each year. About 40,000 tonnes of grass are collected annually in Edmonton. This is equivalent to the weight of 3,077 City buses.
“I grasscycle at home because it is good for the environment and for my lawn, and it reduces the amount of waste we set out for collection,” said Mayor Iveson.
Grass clippings quickly decompose and naturally fertilize the lawn, meaning less chemical fertilizer is needed. It also reduces the need for watering and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
To learn about other ways to reduce household waste and help Edmonton reach its goal visit 90WaysTo90.com. Residents are also invited to submit short videos of how they reduce their waste for a chance to win one of three mini iPads.
For more information, please visit 90WaysTo90.com.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Walking in Someone Else's Shoes...
...and in their shirt, their belt, and their sweater.
By MCRs Robyn C, Heather S, and Andrea W.
In today’s fast fashion world, artificially inexpensive clothing is widely available thanks to a globalized apparel industry. However, consumers are growing increasingly concerned about the social and environmental effects of dubious labour practices and environmentally unsound synthetic materials. What we wear has been a hot topic in the news over the last couple of years.
Low prices mean that individual clothing items no longer represent significant investments as they did in the past, so consumers are unlikely to put time and money toward mending these items when necessary. It seems easier to go out and purchase a brand new sweater than to replace one that lost a button and began unraveling at the seams. Low prices also enable consumers to purchase additional new items to supplement their existing wardrobes, which can result in a closet full of barely or rarely worn clothing.
On the evening of 25 June 2013, MCRs Robyn C, Heather S, and Andrea W hosted a clothing swap as part of a fashion industry event in Edmonton NextGen's DIYalogue series.
The MCRs had various reasons for organizing the event.
"There is so much waste in the clothing industry, and we just wanted to spread awareness of the social impacts as well as the environmental ones," said Robyn.
To Heather, hosting a clothing swap "seemed like an interesting and productive way to get our age group interested in reusing and recycling--to make people think about their everyday actions, what they spend their money on, and where their waste goes."
Though all three had previously participated in clothing swaps among friends, they wanted to do something bigger. At first, they had difficulty defining the scope of the event.
"We wanted this swap to be bigger, and more public," said Robyn, "but we couldn't predict how many people would show up, and we didn't know where to host it, how much to charge for admission, or whether we should charge any admission at all."
Fortunately, their participation in the MCR program had provided them with not only a wealth of knowledge on topics related to composting, recycling, and waste management, but also a network of supportive City of Edmonton staff and volunteers all enthusiastic about promoting "the three Rs".
Edmonton's NextGen approached the MCR clothing swap team through Laura, former MCR Program Assistant. Laura is an active volunteer with NextGen, an organization dedicated to bettering Edmonton for the enjoyment of future generations. NextGen was already in the process of organizing an event in their DIYalogue series on the topic of fashion. The fashion industry networking event was a great fit for the clothing swap.
"We tapped into a bigger network by joining forces [with NextGen]," said Robyn. "It was nice to know we were reaching out to more people, not just people we already knew."
Andrea added, "I think joining their event gave people more reasons to check out both elements of the evening's programme."
While partnering with NextGen relieved the MCRs of tasks related to booking a venue and organizing ticket sales, Robyn, Heather, and Andrea were still left with the biggest task: soliciting clothing donations. Though they put out numerous calls for donations to the MCR community prior to the event, they received no pre-swap donations beyond what they personally collected from friends and relatives. By the night of the event, they had managed to compile just enough stock to start them off for the evening.
"We were a little worried," admits Robyn, "but people really came through on the night of the swap."
Donations rolled in steadily for the duration of the swap. "The quality of the donations was really high, and the volume was great," said Heather. "The display looked really good the whole night.The Arts Barns were a perfect venue, because the fashion industry networking/mentoring stuff was happening in the main space, and we were just off to the side with mirrors, racks, and tables all provided by the venue. The bathrooms have big full-length mirrors so people could try things on."
The swap facilitated many outreach opportunities. "People seemed really enthusiastic about donating and browsing, and we had some really unique opportunities to talk about wasting less," said Andrea. "It felt so different than chatting with people over a table at a fair, because people lingered longer."
The MCRs found another partner in Goodwill Industries, who added their perspective to discussions about the social impacts of waste and reuse. They also collected all unclaimed items from the clothing swap at the end of the event.
"It was so powerful to have the fashion creators together in the same room with people on the reuse and recycle end, and all of us being consumers," said Robyn.
The MCRs reached over 100 people at the event. Their donations to Goodwill extended that impact in a different way.
"It was a success on so many levels," said Heather, "And it was a lot of fun, too!"
Top Tips for a Clothing Swap - from Robyn, Heather, and Andrea
1. Don't be afraid to organize something small and intimate among friends--it could be just as effective.
2. Work your own networks. Reach out and target groups of people you know using your interests.
3. Find a way to make it fun. A clothing swap is a great idea for party at this time of year, when everyone is "spring cleaning"!
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In today’s fast fashion world, artificially inexpensive clothing is widely available thanks to a globalized apparel industry. However, consumers are growing increasingly concerned about the social and environmental effects of dubious labour practices and environmentally unsound synthetic materials. What we wear has been a hot topic in the news over the last couple of years.
Low prices mean that individual clothing items no longer represent significant investments as they did in the past, so consumers are unlikely to put time and money toward mending these items when necessary. It seems easier to go out and purchase a brand new sweater than to replace one that lost a button and began unraveling at the seams. Low prices also enable consumers to purchase additional new items to supplement their existing wardrobes, which can result in a closet full of barely or rarely worn clothing.On the evening of 25 June 2013, MCRs Robyn C, Heather S, and Andrea W hosted a clothing swap as part of a fashion industry event in Edmonton NextGen's DIYalogue series.
The MCRs had various reasons for organizing the event.
"There is so much waste in the clothing industry, and we just wanted to spread awareness of the social impacts as well as the environmental ones," said Robyn.
To Heather, hosting a clothing swap "seemed like an interesting and productive way to get our age group interested in reusing and recycling--to make people think about their everyday actions, what they spend their money on, and where their waste goes."
Though all three had previously participated in clothing swaps among friends, they wanted to do something bigger. At first, they had difficulty defining the scope of the event.
"We wanted this swap to be bigger, and more public," said Robyn, "but we couldn't predict how many people would show up, and we didn't know where to host it, how much to charge for admission, or whether we should charge any admission at all."
Edmonton's NextGen approached the MCR clothing swap team through Laura, former MCR Program Assistant. Laura is an active volunteer with NextGen, an organization dedicated to bettering Edmonton for the enjoyment of future generations. NextGen was already in the process of organizing an event in their DIYalogue series on the topic of fashion. The fashion industry networking event was a great fit for the clothing swap.
"We tapped into a bigger network by joining forces [with NextGen]," said Robyn. "It was nice to know we were reaching out to more people, not just people we already knew."
Andrea added, "I think joining their event gave people more reasons to check out both elements of the evening's programme."
"We were a little worried," admits Robyn, "but people really came through on the night of the swap."
The swap facilitated many outreach opportunities. "People seemed really enthusiastic about donating and browsing, and we had some really unique opportunities to talk about wasting less," said Andrea. "It felt so different than chatting with people over a table at a fair, because people lingered longer."
The MCRs found another partner in Goodwill Industries, who added their perspective to discussions about the social impacts of waste and reuse. They also collected all unclaimed items from the clothing swap at the end of the event.
"It was so powerful to have the fashion creators together in the same room with people on the reuse and recycle end, and all of us being consumers," said Robyn.The MCRs reached over 100 people at the event. Their donations to Goodwill extended that impact in a different way.
"It was a success on so many levels," said Heather, "And it was a lot of fun, too!"
Top Tips for a Clothing Swap - from Robyn, Heather, and Andrea
1. Don't be afraid to organize something small and intimate among friends--it could be just as effective.
2. Work your own networks. Reach out and target groups of people you know using your interests.
3. Find a way to make it fun. A clothing swap is a great idea for party at this time of year, when everyone is "spring cleaning"!
Robyn C, Heather S, and Andrea W all graduated from the MCR program together in 2013. They've been involved in various projects together and separately, such as helping out at the Reuse Centre, doing presentations for school kids, and holding zero-waste dinner parties.
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