By Leslie Glen
As you all know, we live in one of the most gorgeous region of the province; we are blessed with crystal clear lakes, wide open meadows and impressive mountains.
April is the month to acknowledge how our small tasks of recycling, reducing and re-using benefits our surroundings. We can protect wildlife by not littering, reducing CO2 emissions and by recycling and re-using numerous materials.
Did you know a recycled pop can requires 90 per cent less energy to recycle than produce new ones; and a recycled pop may be back on the shelve within eight weeks.
An aluminum can takes 80 to 100 years to biodegrade in the landfill, plastic bottles 100 years, a soup can will be in the dump for 50 years, and glass and other heavy plastics never biodegrade. One recycled soup can saves enough energy to power a TV for three hours, and one recycled plastic bottle saves enough energy to power a 30-watt light bulb for six hours.
Each of us consumes an average of 525 trees in paper products in a lifetime, and for every tonne of paper that is recycled, it saves 17 trees and reduces a lot of CO2 emissions from being released into the atmosphere. Recycled paper requires 64 per cent less energy to produce than making paper from virgin pulp.
A typical computer monitor contains two kilograms (kg) of lead, and 88 per cent of mercury deposited into our landfill comes from batteries.
The average person produces two kg of solid waste each day. This adds up to 55 tonnes of trash over the course of our lifetimes. The volume of garbage could be drastically reduced, since 84 per cent of household waste can potentially be recycled.
Everything from paint to batteries, beverage containers, small appliances, electronics, metals, power tools, exercise equipment, smoke alarms, paper, cardboard and plastics can be recycled. The list of all products that you can divert from the landfill is extremely long.
Everyone is spring cleaning; let’s work together to create change. We have made it so easy to recycle at the depot where you can enjoy a clean comfortable atmosphere, while sorting your beverage containers and other recyclable material.
You could enjoy our convenient household curb-side collection in all surrounding areas. This is an easy way to contribute material that may generally have been going to the landfill. A family of four can reduce its garbage down to one bag a week if participating in the curb-side collection.
Leslie Glen is the co-owner of Gold Trail Recycling in 100 Mile House.
