Reduce your waste

Say no to junk mail and phone books

According to the Red Dot Campaign website, the $2 billion Canadian flyer industry contributes over one million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually! To find out how to reduce your carbon footprint by reducing junk mail, visit Red Dot Campaign or the Canada Post's epost or Consumer Choice Program websites.

Take a minute to stop Yellow Pages from delivering their directory to your front door online through this Yellow Pages Group online ecoINITIATIVE.

Start with easy steps to reduce

• Avoid single use items like paper towels which are made from natural resources which are then shipped, purchased, used once and then thrown into the garbage – only to be transported to the landfill. Use a dish cloth or rag instead of a paper towel!
• Invest in quality items that last longer. Cheaply-made items usually end up in the landfill
• Save space and money while reducing your impact on the local landfill by borrowing or renting occasional household tools and appliances. Make friends with your neighbours and borrow items you don't need on a regular basis
• Look for reduced packaging when shopping
• Make a habit of always carrying a reusable shopping bag

Recycle when possible

Vancouver has a blue box recycling program and apartment recycling. Click here for a list of recyclables.

Recycling isn't just about newspapers, cardboard and empty soup cans. Find out where to recycle items that aren't included in the City's blue box or apartment recycling programs using the Recycling Council of BC's Recyclepedia or Metro Vancouver's database.

Didn't find the answer you need? Call the RCBC Hotline for up-to-date information concerning waste reduction, recycling, disposal and pollution prevention at 604-R-E-C-Y-C-L-E (604-732-9253) or e-mail.

Want the bigger picture? You can also visit Metro Vancouver's Zero Waste Challenge website for updated regional plans on how to deal with garbage, which envisages a zero waste region - no waste, only resources.

Recycle your small electrical appliances

Unplugged, the Small Appliance Recycling Program, gives BC a new recycling option for more than two million small appliances currently being landfilled each year. As of Oct 1, 2011, recycle your old and broken small appliances at one of over 100 Unplugged drop-off locations and help reduce pollution, save energy and protect the environment.

Take your milk containers to Return-It Centres

Instead of throwing your empty cartons of cow, soy or rice milk into the garbage, take them to a participating Encorp Return-It Centre where they can be recycled. There is no deposit paid for milk or milk-substitute containers but it's still worth the effort. For more information, including a list of depots, call Encorp Pacific at 1-800-330-9767 or go to their website.

Compost your lawn and kitchen scraps

Recycle your food — Don't let it go to waste! About 35 per cent of typical household “garbage” is actually compostable organics. Recycling organics creates valuable compost, cuts greenhouse gasses and diverts tonnes of recyclable material out of the landfill.

If you receive the City’s yard trimmings collection service, you can add uncooked fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and filters, teabags, and eggshells into your yard trimmings cart for composting. (Note: The composting facility can’t process any kind of plastics, even bags marked “biodegradable”. Instead, use newsprint or brown paper bags).

Whether you’re using a backyard composter or your yard trimmings cart—your commitment to composting is key to achieving our 2020 waste reduction target of 40 per cent.

Visit the website for collection schedules, a step-by-step how to guide, to order or exchange a yard trimmings cart, and more.

Don't have a backyard:

• The City of Vancouver offers apartment residents a way to compost food scraps, worm composting. City Farmer's workshops demonstrates the process. Find out more - 604.736.2250