Coming home from Groundswell, I came in through the alley as
I needed access to our compost since I had brought home our collective food
scraps for the week on my bike. If you know me, you know that I can’t be by recycle/garbage receptacles
without taking a gander inside…I just can’t.
I found….some binders, a fan that is in incredible
condition, some cords (internet, electrical etc), and a hanger…this was in the
garbage. Fun to find, but ultimately sad…sad that people throw this away, especially when it’s in perfect working
condition. Anyone need any binders/cables? I think I already found a home for the fan ;).
In the recycling blue bin I rescued two bottles which had maybe a
quarter of their product still inside – i.e. soap. One was a pump bottle for
liquid soap which I was excited about and took since I wanted a bottle to add the bulk liquid soap I
got refilled at the Soap Dispensary – I was pretty excited to find this as I
really didn't want to buy a soap I didn't really want, and accumulate more plastic, just to get the bottle! So…that’s
good.
The other one I just rinsed out a bit and then put it back, since I figured the city would deem
it as “contaminated” and into the garbage it would go.
On that note, I wonder how much we all know about what goes
into recycling and what ends up actually being recycled. While we feel good
about putting x,y,z in our blue boxes – if it’s not actually an item the city
accepts, it will ultimately end up in the landfill.
So – a recap of what the city of Vancouver accepts (I
specify Vancouver since this is where I am and it differs quite drastically depending
on which area you’re located in!) Also, this should be noted too that this is only
if you get City pick-up if it’s a private recycler (i.e. you're in a business, or condo complex, apartment etc) then what is accepted can be slightly different too. I
was going to do my own bulleted list but then this is forever changing, as
facilities become better able to accept more items (yay!) so…a link shall
suffice
What goes in recycling bins! (see the link!)
What goes in the GREEN bin (see the link!) --> basically, anything that was living, grew from soil, or would decompose if
left sort of unattended, outside of the fridge, outside. I like to project into the future and imagine, if it got wet – would it ultimately
mold and decay? Like…a t-shirt - the answer is yes, because it’s cotton (cotton being a plant), and I can visualize a sort of moldy t-shirt. But
would plastic? Nope..the water would bead on it but it wouldn’t penetrate. So
yes… I like that sort of visual for helping me navigate the potentially muddy
waters…or composted soil?
In terms of what is or is not excepted, just want to draw attention to the image of soil/rocks. At first glance I was thinking to my self - "WHAT…that is clearly organic matter"…and then I realized – OH…it’s
because you can dump that outside on the grass/soil/plant bed…etc..and if you
live in a condo – well actually, if you live in a condo you probably are not
having city pick-up it’s likely a private recycler so you’d want to check with
them assuming it's of a similar vein, I’d just sneak it in there anyway…OR …bring it down and add it to your
landscaped areas around your building, or share it with a friend ;) there are always ways….always. :) And, it's fun to exercise our creativity and find them!
I digress, my actual point of wanting to write was to note
the horrific chemicals in our traditional soaps and body products and I will
use this one soap I found as an example. However since this is already incredibly long....let's take it to a ...second blog post!
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