Reuse / Recycling Opportunities in Calgary
There are many opportunities in Calgary for recycling. The City of Calgary has many recycling depots located all around the city. Or, you can hire a curbside pick-up company to pick up your recylables. Hazardous Waste needs to be handled seperately.
Curbside Recycling in Calgary
Calgarians currently recycle 20% of residential waste. The remaining 80% goes to landfill. The City of Calgary wants to reverse these numbers and has set a target of 80% recycled and 20% to landfill by the year 2020.
The results of the recent curb-side recycling pilot project found that to achieve this goal the City of Calgary will need to implement curb-side recycling, a pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) program, and education & awareness programs. Calgary is the only major city in Canada that does not have a curb-side recycling program.
The City of Calgary has approved citywide curbside recycling that will include the pickup of all recyclables, including plastics but excluding compost, and which is to be implemented in 2009.
How to Pack a Litterless Lunch
It has been estimated that on average a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year. That equates to 18,760 pounds of lunch waste per year for just one average-size elementary school.
Tips on How to Pack Litterless Lunches
Do include:
- Sandwiches or salads in reusable containers
- Whole fruits without packaging
- Drinks in reusable containers
- Snacks purchased in bulk and brought in reusable containers
- Cloth napkins and reusable spoons and forks
- Take compostable materials home or set up vermicomposter or composters in the school
Don’t include:
- Individually wrapped items
- Plastic baggies that are not reusable
- Disposable forks and spoons
- Straws
- Paper bags
- Paper napkins
Simple steps for starting a litterless lunch program or project at your school:
1. For the first day of the program collect all lunch waste from your class or school. After gathering all of the waste weigh it and record this number.
2. For the second day, ask students to bring a waste-free or litterless lunch. Gather the waste again if there is any and record and compare the results. You can calculate how much waste on average is generated for the whole school and how much could be eliminated if everyone brought a litterless lunch every day.
3. Schools can submit your daily or yearly results to Clean Calgary Association and we will calculate the greenhouse gas emission savings that your school has eliminated by bringing waste-less lunches. Email info@cleancalgary.org for GHG calculations.