Waste

Waste enters our environment in many ways, and it is not always as evident as the Great Pacific garbage Patch. Small plastic pieces, called micro plastics, can come from our clothes when they are washed, and enter nature through the sewage system. Micro plastics are even present now in some of our bottled water. And despite the fact that our region uses a 3-bag waste sorting system, a lot of garbage still finds its way onto our beaches, trails, and into our water systems. We need to reduce the amount of waste we generate, and support and promote the 5 Rs (refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, recycle).

The following issues were identified by participants of the Green Strategy development in 2017 and 2018:

• Industrial & institutional garbage is not separated, and apartments are not required to separate their waste;
• There are “private” or wild dumps around our communities, and although dumping is illegal, the law is not being enforced;
• There is a lack of garbage cans on beaches, trails, and if there are bins, they are not always regularly emptied, and the public does not properly sort garbage;
• Garbage sorting is not occurring at municipal events, or special events in our communities; and if there is garbage separation offered, the public does not adhere to the guidelines.

Numerous actions were presented by community members that can help address these concerns. Look on the left-hand side of the screen under “Actions”. If you are looking for things that you can do, look under “What you can do”. To find out more about who is already working on the issues, look under “Digging Deeper”.