Sunday, December 28, 2008

New recycling and garbage program

Beginning January 2nd disposing of garbage will cost money. Unfortunately, recycling doesn't get any easier...yet. Here's the program in a nutshell:

Pay-as-you-Throw
All of these items can be recycled.
• Newspaper
• Paper (like junk mail, phone books, greeting cards, computer paper, etc)
• Boxboard (like cereal boxes, shoe boxes, etc)
• Tin and aluminum cans (labels and lids are ok)
• Plastics numbered 1-7 (discard caps, rinse containers)
• Plastic film, like plastic bags
• Magazines and books
• Corrugated cardboard
• Glass (jars, bottles -- no ceramics or other glass)

At this point we don't have a "blue bag" recycling program at the Lac Le Jeune transfer station. When we get that progam we'll be able to dispose of an unlimited number of clear or blue garbage bags filled with the first 7 items (unsorted) from the above list. Corrugated cardboard and glass must be separate.

The rest of your garbage must be bagged. The cost to dispose of the bags depends on size:
4 kitchen catcher bags = $1
2 large kitchen bags = $1
1 standard garbage bag = $1
1 oversized garbage bag = $2

But don't bring cash! You need to purchase an Eco-Card from *most* municipal offices or one of these retailers.
Will this program will work? TNRD makes a few claims:
• It's an alternative to increasing taxes to cover costs of garbage removal
• It will reduce waste by as much as 40%

Gripes:
• We have to drive to purchase an Eco-Card. Why not offer it online? Or at the transfer stations?
• The Eco-Cards are only available at some municipal offices; why not all of them?
• Purchasing PLASTIC bags to package up our recycling seems conterintuitive.
• We need to drive over 30 kilometres to dispose of materials for recycling.

Fears:
• We will see more garbage on the side of the road. As it is there is an alarming amount of garbage thrown out of car windows, especially on Lac Le Jeune Road.

How do you feel about this new program?

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Donate to the Children's Hospital Foundation

Merry Christmas - Joyeux Noël! BC Hydro is committed to raising $1 million for the Children's Hospital Foundation this season. All you have to do is visit this site to drop a coin in the slot. There is no cost to you, and the website is pretty cool. Spread the word!

Thanks to Lucy Lindros for the link!

Monday, December 8, 2008

Burn Site

Please respond to our poll! At a recent meeting of the Lac Le Jeune Conservation Society one of the items for discussion was the pine beetle burn site. We have permission to use this site, however we have some details to work out such as liability insurance, monitoring, timeline, etc. Before we go ahead with further action, the most important question is how many people would actually use this site.

Respond to the poll before January 30, 2009 and add your comments to the blog (click the "comments" link below this article). We look forward to your feedback!