Waste Management enews. December, 2018

Transcription

1 Waste Management enews December, 2018 Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Keeping residents informed about our programs and services 3Rs Holiday Handbook Getting ready for the holidays can be exciting, challenging, expensive and/or exhausting - depending on how you celebrate it. We certainly don't want sorting waste to add to your load, but we don't want it to be forgotten either. Below is you quick waste guide so you can glide through th holidays Reducing, Reusing and Recycling all you can. We've sprinkled in some of our staff's tips, too! Wishing you and yours all the best this holiday and in The Waste Management Divisio. Holiday collection schedules There is no collection on Christmas Day and New Years Day. With these falling on a Tuesday this year, collection for the remainder of the week will be delayed one day. See chart below: If your regular collection day is... Set out your items out by 7 a.m. on... Monday - December 24, December 31 Monday. No changes. Tuesday December 25, January 1 Wednesday December 26, January 2 Wednesday December 26, January 2 Thursday December 27, January 3 Thursday December 27, January 3 Friday December 28, January 4 Friday December 28, January 4 Saturday December 29, January 5

2 "Tree-cycle": Set out natural Christmas trees by 7 a.m. on your collection day during the weeks starting December 31 and January 7. Keep it natural: remove decorations and stand. Do not bag. If the tree is longer than 1.8 meters (6 feet), cut in half and our crews will be able to collect it safely. Keep it visible and accessible. Do not place your tree on top of or behind a snowbank. Christmas trees set out after our special collection program is over will be counted as a Bulky Item. Please check your limits. Double garbage days: With all the ways you can reduce waste (see articles below), we hope you don't need it, but we do offer double garbage days after the holidays. You can set out double the amount of garbage on your regular garbage week after both Christmas and New Years. Check the calendar or My Waste app for details. Prepare for the holidays, 3R's style Shop smart. Remind yourself that if you don't need it, it's not a deal. Shop local to support our local economy and minimize impacts of transportation. Buy local foods from nearby farms and farmers' markets. Look for locally-made gifts. Buy gifts with recycled content, and minimal,100 per cent recyclable packaging. Plan your meals from listing the ingredients you need to managing leftovers Take stock and make the most out of what you already have in your pantry and freezer. Look for recipes online that use up food scraps, such as this Amazing Waste Cookbook with 50 recipes. Have containers for leftovers. Or ask guests to bring containers so they can take leftovers home. Heather, a Waste Management Program Assistant, avoids as much packaging as she can by making things from scratch. John S., a Waste Management Coordinator, grinds turkey bones into a fine meal and mixes it into food for his dogs. Many people in our office, including Brittney, a Waste Management Engineer, plan meals to avoid food waste. Kim, a Waste Management Coordinator makes simple turkey casseroles for the freezer by sautéing chopped garlic, onion, and other vegetables with leftover turkey. Then she adds leftover

3 Freeze leftovers, including cookies. Invite your green bin to your gathering and compost all food scraps, paper towels, facial tissues, wooden toothpicks, and paper napkins and paper plates (if you are not using reusables). gravy as the sauce (you may need to add water or broth). Put in the bottom of the casserole dish and top with layers of leftover turnip and mashed potatoes. Wrap well, freeze and enjoy another turkey dinner in a couple of months. Stock up on liner bags. Buy them at grocery or hardware stores, or have a craft night to keep the kids busy and make your own out of newspaper. Tips: Jeff, a Waste Management Inspector, uses green bin liner bags as gift wrap, so the receiver gets two presents in one! If all of your food scraps can't fit into your green bin, put them in a paper or Certified Compostable Plastic liner bag and put the bag on top of your green bin on your collection day. Set up an eco-depot for you and your guests to make sorting waste into green bin, blue boxes, and garbage easy. Painting, cleaning and de-cluttering Drop off the following items for recycling, reuse or proper disposal: Household Hazardous Waste, such as leftover paint, batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, cosmetics (see article below), and gently used clothes and other household goods. Consider buying a real tree. Christmas trees are grown on farms where they use carbon. Research beforehand to check that the tree farm is sustainable. After the holiday, "Treecycle" (SeeHoliday collection schedules article). Kathleen, a Waste Management, Coordinator, buys a live, potted tree that is decorated for the holidays, then used as a houseplant until she can plant in her yard in the spring.

4 Replace your green bin if it is broken. Green bins are available for no cost at our Waste Management sites located at 201 Savage Drive, Cambridge (Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.) 925 Erb Street West, Gate 1, Waterloo Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) Bring your broken one so that we can recycle it. Gifts that keep on giving The spirit of the holidays shines through when we relax with family and friends. While this in itself is a gift, get-togethers can

5 Here are some ideas for gifts that also give to our precious Earth: Rethink traditions. Speak to your family and friends about drawing names so each person only buys and receives one personalized gift. Or have one gift for the whole family. Or donate to charity. Shelley, a Waste Management Coordinator, donates to charity in her loved one's name. Or play gift exchange games. Co-op students, Maggie and Prabh, play Secret Santa games with their families. Look for variations online. Give old gifts a new life. Thoughtful re-gifting reduces waste, and could include antique or heirloom pieces that have special meaning to your family. Gift experiences. Consider coupons for chores or lessons, tickets to a movie or other experiences the person would appreciate. Check out Explore Waterloo Region for local workshops, tours, and shows. Rethink Reduce Reuse Recycle Re-gift!? Dave, a Waste Management Supervisor, gives the gift of experiences like tickets to concerts and sporting events. Make gifts. Learn a new craft or use your existing skills. Look for ways to reuse items, such as making clothes into tote bags, pillows, or stuffed animals. Create recipes in glass jars (cookies, jams, hand cream), or a calendar out of photos. To reduce the amount of batteries you go through, be like John W., a Waste Management Coordinator, and buy rechargeable batteries to accompany your electronic gift. Or avoid electronic waste (ewaste) and give board games! Look for "green" gifts that produce less waste all year long such as reusable straws, reusable produce bags, refillable water bottles or coffee travel mugs. Or gifts that encourage pollinators and biodiversity, such as a garden kit with organic and heirloom seeds, compost, and pots.

6 Making the most out of wrapping (and unwrapping) gifts Use the wrapping as part of the gift, such as a scarf, gym bag, or purse. Wrap gifts with reusable items, such as cloth gift bags, baskets, plastic totes, or wooden boxes. Use 100 per cent recyclable material including newspaper comics, cereal or shoe boxes, brown Kraft paper or paper wrapping paper. Veronica, a Waste Management Coordinator reuses cookie tins and peanut butter jars to gift cookies and other Christmas treats. April an Environmental Project Engineer, has wrapped presents with magazine pages tailored to the receiver's interests. Create gift tags, or small boxes from old greeting cards. When unwrapping presents have: 1. A box to collect any reusable wrapping paper, tissue paper, gift bags, bows and ribbons.(vikki, a Graphic Designer does this!) 2. Grocery-sized plastic bag(s) to recycle any regular wrapping paper. 3. A garbage can or bag for anything that can't be recycled or you don't want to reuse, such as foil wrapping paper, bubble wrap, Styrofoam, bows and ribbons. 4. A designated person to flatten and bundle cardboard no larger than 75 x 75 x 20 centimetres (30 x 30 x 8 inches). Avoid beauty hazards: Sort out and dispose your cosmetics safely Before you get all "glammed" up for the holidays, make sure your cosmetics are safe to use. Sort through your beauty products and grooming aids, such as make-up, perfume, skin care items, nail polish, shampoo, shaving cream and deodorant. Put those that have expired and ones you no longer want or use in a pile. Read the labels of each item to determine if it should go in the garbage, or if it is hazardous waste. Yes! Some cosmetics are considered hazardous such as:

7 those with a drug identification number (DIN) printed on the container (see sidebar) those with potentially harmful properties, which includes the flammable ingredients in nail polish. Contact your local pharmacy about their take-back programs and drop off the products they accept. Or drop off cosmetics deemed hazardous at our depots. If you are unsure if your cosmetics are considered hazardous, drop them off at our depots. It's better to err on the side of caution, than to have it end up in our landfill or in our sewer system. Waste Reduction tip: Make your own cosmetics. Look for recipes and ideas online. When will the 2019 Waste Collection calendar be delivered? By the end of January, but we've got you covered! Your 2018 calendar includes January, Spread the word! Keep your circle of friends in the know! Please forward this electronic newsletter to them using the link at theend, or even better, send them the link to the Region's subscription page. There they can quickly sign up for Waste Management enews and any other topic that they are keen on. Contact Us Region of Waterloo Phone: Follow us! Waste Management TTY: Division waste@regionofwaterloo.ca Facebook: Region of Waterloo 925 Erb Street West Visit: Waste Management Waterloo, ON N2J 3Z Region of Waterloo Unsubscribe