Are you waste wise?

What do you do with empty pizza boxes? Shredded paper? Old VHS video tapes? Left over school supplies? The ugly, non-working lamp that Aunt Calliope left you in her will in the futile hope that you would love and repair it?

As a proud City of Edmonton Master Composter/Recycler, I'm pleased to tell you that there's an app for that... Waste Wise is the City's new phone and computer application that allows you to easily look up an item that you're not sure how to properly dispose of.  Click on the link above and scroll down to the search box. It will tell you that the pizza box can go in your blue bag for recycling, shredded paper goes into a garbage bag so it can be composted in the Waste Management Branch's huge composting facility, and VHS tapes are best taken to an Ecostation so that black magnetic tape from their sure-to-be-broken-in-the-garbage-compactor cassettes don't tie up recycling or composting equipment and cause system shut downs. And it's amazing the number of ordinary things like leftover school supplies that can be recycled or reused through Edmonton's Reuse Centre.

The app will even tell you when your garbage collection day is and send reminders to your phone (I hate it when I forget, but I don't have a phone, so I live with it). And the Waste Wise page also has an interesting garbage sorting game for kids (or adults -- I'll admit to enjoying building my very own vitual playground).

Unfortunately, the app still doesn't know what to do with ex-boyfriends or Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton... I keep hoping the Waste Wise webmaster will come up with some smart comebacks for those "items," like SIRI does when you say, "I love you."  I won't hold my breath on that one, as I'm sure the Waste Wise folks already have their hands full.

As for Aunt Calliope's ugly lamp... well, if it's fixable, it might be worth something at the Antiques Road Show. Or not. And don't forget that one person's trash is another's treasure. Sometimes if you set it out where your trash is collected, someone can anonymously claim it for their own. Or not. You just never know about these things!

51,000 TVs

Last night I visited the City's 2016 Master Composter/Recycler class -- a room full of marvellous people who have volunteered to learn about composting and recycling and to share what they learn with their neighbours to reduce waste in Edmonton. Walking Shadow-pup around our neighbourhoods, I am often appalled by the litter and dumping that I find in ravines and back alleys, so for me it's good to balance that frustration by spending time with other like-minded folks who care enough to keep our world clean.

It's also wonderful to have the opportunity to have a little update of my own training as an MCR, and to learn about how our city adapts its waste collection as neighbourhoods and seasons change. Right now, we're in a heavy time for waste collectors, some of whom load ten tonnes of garbage on their trucks in a day (twice!) with stops averaging between 28-36 seconds per home, believe it or not! Last night's class was all about what they do -- and a good reminder of how hard they work and how important it is to set garbage out so that it's safe for them to do their jobs. Here's a little reminder that I've shared before that's especially important in a heavy waste time of the year...

And here are five things to consider for the sake of your trash collector:

1. Ensure easy access to your garbage area. If in an alleyway, keep the path between truck and cans clear. If on a street, put trash on the curb and try to keep vehicles parked away from collection points so the guys and gals don't have to walk extra steps. (They get enough exercise jumping on and off their trucks thousands of times a day!)

2. Make sure your cans have fixed handles and no wheels, both of which can cause injuries to collectors.

3. Keeping bags under 40 lbs (20 kg) also saves backs. And no cans larger than 77 litres...

4. Sharp things should be packaged in a way that they can't cut collectors. Put broken glass and other sharp items into labelled, puncture-proof boxes or containers.

5. Grasscycle and compost if you can. Our collectors really don't mind picking up FEWER grass clippings and leaves.

And what about the 51, 000 TVs that Edmontonians throw away every year (yes, you read that right -- 51,000!)? They need to be taken to an Ecostation -- as does any other other electronic item. Sean, our speaker last night, showed a few interesting pictures where people left large flat screen TVs sitting in the alley (along with various and sundry large furniture items) for their lone collector to pick up. Of course, that's an impossibility! It only brings a visit from City staff to let the owner know that a single garbage collector can't load a home's contents onto his truck, and that really, it's the owner's responsibility to take large items to the dump or Ecostation. The Ambleside and Kennedale Stations in Edmonton have Reuse Areas for furniture that's in good condition and shouldn't really go to the landfill. So I'm guessing that maybe some of those 51,000 TVs could be saved!

As I shared with the new Master Composter Recycler class last night, waste is actually a Social Justice Issue. With 7.4 billion of us on the planet, we all need to think more deeply about the impacts of our resource use. As consumers and human beings, every choice we make matters -- not only to the fullness of our landfills, but to our human and non-human brothers and sisters in this web of life that we share.

When we use resources poorly, the people who work to make the things we use are not being properly honoured. When we throw things away before their time, we are needlessly adding to the pile of trash that our planet has to try to reabsorb. And when we ignore the impact that our lives and our waste have on species around the globe, we are damaging our relationship with our earth and everyone in it. We are being unjust and unfair. It's that simple.

So when it comes to our trash, mindfulness is key. I suspect that if we all had to live with all our garbage around us on a daily basis, we would be pretty careful about what we buy in the first place! And we'd find more ways to employ the seven Rs (originally shared by MCR Gerda, translated from the Portuguese)...

For the sake of our planet, how many R's can we make a part of what we do today?

Simple Suggestion #227... Don't be a mess-it -- bag it!

The title of this moodling goes back a long way, to when I was a child and there was an anti-litter campaign. I can still see the little, hang-over-the-car-radio-knob litter bag given out in our classroom. It was decorated with a little character that looked like the one at the left, sitting in a pile of garbage. "Don't be a mess-it. Bag it!" it proclaimed.

It might have been my first lesson in ecology, one that every kid learns, but somehow not every adult obeys. It's so basic, and so ignored.

I find this time of year to be rather discouraging because the snow disappears and litter becomes evident everywhere, and it seems that most of the human race could care less about our environment. But rather than rant about people who litter, I'm more inclined to bag it myself. I think of Alberta's past Lieutenant Governor, Grant MacEwan, and his insistence on leaving the planet a better place than he found it, every single day. The great man couldn't go on a walk without picking up other peoples' garbage and putting in where it belonged.

And it's such an easy thing to do, especially this time of year. Yesterday, during my walk with Shadow pup, no less than two plastic bags made themselves available to me. One was stuck under a bush; the other laying listlessly on a sidewalk. I picked those poor orphans up and used them to gather other waste along the way -- a lost running shoe, sheets of newspaper, empty disposable coffee cups. And I wondered at the people who misplaced these things. How could they be so careless? Or did they just forget to secure their garbage cans and the wind blew? Did they skip their childhood ecology lessons? I'd better watch out, or I'll start to rant...

At any rate, it doesn't take much to make the world a better place, like Grant MacEwan did. And that slogan from my first ecology lesson still holds. Don't be a mess it -- Bag it!

P.S. Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Click here.

Simple Suggestion #143 -- Revisited -- Give a thought to your garbage guys and gals

Today is garbage day in my neighbourhood. On our somewhat snowy morning walk, Shadow-puppy was rather excited by the collectors making the rounds with their trucks, though what he'd ever do with a truck once he caught it is beyond me! Anyway, that's what brought about this moodling...

It's that time of year when people start to clean up their yards, and our waste collectors find themselves inundated with bags and bags and bags of leaves, grass clippings, bundles of pruned branches... and much heavier and more dangerous items. May and June see the biggest spike in residential waste, and would you believe that our garbage gals and guys pick up and toss garbage weighing the equivalent of 17 to 27 smart cars into their trucks in one day? Imagine that for a minute, and then imagine what your body feels like after hoisting that many cars, one piece at a time, in a week. Then tell me that you agree with the ads I'm posting below. They're images shot from truck mounted cameras that give a small peek into what our garbage guys and gals face every day.

Today's suggestion (in three parts), taken seriously, will make our collectors' days much better: make your garbage easily accessible, keep those bags light, and safely package and label your sharp items.

Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Click here.

Simple Suggestion #143... Give a thought to your garbage guys and gals

When we got home from Jasper on the weekend, I noticed a line of garbage bags along my neighbour's back fence... autumn leaves from her yard clean up, which I promptly "borrowed" for my compost pile. As I lugged six bags to my storage area beside our garage, I decided that this week would be a good time to post this suggestion, which, I admit, is mostly for city dwellers, or towns where garbage is collected by people in waste management services.

Our garbage collectors work really hard, and their work often takes serious tolls on their bodies. But if ordinary citizens like you and me think about what we can do to make their jobs safer, no one gets hurt and everyone wins. So here's a quick list of things to keep in mind that can make life a lot better for your garbage guys:

1. Ensure easy access to your garbage area. If in an alleyway, keep the path between truck and cans clear. If on a street, try to keep vehicles parked away from collection points.

2. Make sure your cans have fixed handles. Moving handles can wrench wrists.

3. Stationary cans (without wheels) are less likely to cause back injuries.

4. Keeping bags under 40 lbs (20 kg) also saves backs.

5. Sharp things should be packaged in a way that they can't cut collectors. Put broken glass and other sharp items into labelled, puncture-proof boxes or containers.

6. Grasscycle and compost if you can. The guys really don't mind picking up FEWER grass clippings and leaves.

Here's a great little 4 minute video that tells you everything your garbage collector wants you to know. And even if your area doesn't have garbage collectors, giving some thought to your garbage now and then is good for the planet... but that's another moodling for another day.