Waste Reduction Week Canada – Oct 19-25th, 2008
This week marks the Waste Reduction Week in Canada (from October 19th to the 25th). You may not recall last year’s civic strike (one of many policy and political mistakes) but in case you do, I am hoping this little visual reminder will help remind you of how awful the city looked.
Credit: Rebelcan
As I mentioned a while ago, we live in a rather affluent (and wasteful) society. We buy coffee to go, and then proceed to dump the paper cup in the trash can. We buy disposable diapers and then proceed to wrap them in double plastic bags, because “eeewww it’s poop”. We drive three blocks to buy groceries. And the list goes on.
Waste Reduction Week Canada helps remind us of the many ways in which we can reduce our ecological footprint by minimizing waste. If you need a refresher, I wrote a short post on solid waste management that will give you some useful reading material.
The website of Waste Reduction Week Canada offers some really neat factoids (some of which you may or may not know). As a scholar of environmental studies who happens to have worked for many years in solid/liquid/hazardous waste management, I actually do know that landfill sites account for about 38% of Canada’s total methane emissions (according to Environment Canada).
If you need some suggestions on how to reduce the amount of waste you generate, feel free to drop me a comment, send me an email or send me a tweet.
Related posts:
- The Holiday Waste Reduction Campaign of Metro Vancouver
- Metro Vancouver Regional Forums on Waste Management (Sep 15 and 16th)
- The Mr. Gay Canada pageant is this week
- Homelessness Action Week 2008 – October 12th to 19th, 2008
- Solid waste management – Take that trash back!
Having moved from Nova Scotia to BC, I’ve been amazed in the difference in attitude and attention to recycling from coast to coast, both by the general population and the government. The biggest difference, in my opinion, is the lack of compost service in Vancouver, and the lack of recycling bins in stores and public places.
Just last night I went to eat at a local coffee shop. When I tried to recycle my pop bottle, the staff told me the store doesn’t recycle. So I put it outside on the sidewalk, and it was promptly picked up by someone. At least it got recycled….
I also recently moved apartments, and have been trying to fill the empty places with “pre-owned” furniture found on Craigslist. So far, success for the environment as well as my budget!
Thanks for writing this post, and I look forward to seeing other people’s comments about how to reduce their waste. Food packaging is one area I’m especially concerned about. I also wrote a short post about the issue of recycling last month: http://westcoastchickie.blogspot.com/search/label/recyclying
I have a friend who refuses to use disposable coffee cups. “If I don’t remember to bring my travel mug with me, then I don’t deserve a coffee!”
I really wish that Vancouver composting pickup along with trash & recycling pick up. I live in a basement suite with no space outside, so I can’t even get myself a worm composter.
[...] looks outside and sees a lot of trash. He reminds us that it is Waste Reduction Week in Canada, running from October 15th to October 25th. Waste Reduction Week may end tomorrow, but [...]