Waste minimization
By recycling and composting, we can reduce the amount of waste going into our landfills. There are a lot of reasons why this makes sense. Less garbage means lower costs to collect garbage, and this could save you money on your property taxes. And increased revenue from the sale of recyclables, and lower garbage collection costs, reduces the amount of property taxes needed to fund the recycling program.Recycling also saves energy, since making goods from recycled materials usually requires less energy than making goods from raw materials.
The City of Winnipeg started up a residential blue box program in 1995, and by 1997 it had spread to cover the entire city. In November 2001, on-site recycling collection was made available to all multi-family dwellings, including apartments, condominiums and townhouses. And in 2003, recycling became easier than ever, as the new recycling facility meant that more material could be accepted and that people did not have to sort their materials but could put it all in the blue box together.
For more information on recycling, please visit the Water & Waste Web site:
In addition to recycling, another way to reduce waste going to the landfill is by composting and grasscycling.
Composting is the natural process of breaking down organic material, such as kitchen and yard waste, to produce a nutrient-rich, soil-like material. The process works with the help of micro-organisms such as bacteria and fungi combined with air and moisture. By composting, you can reduce your household garbage by up to one-third and you’ll end up with a valuable resource that can help out your garden.
Grasscycling is as simple as leaving the grass clippings on the lawn after mowing. The clippings dehydrate, then decompose and quickly disappear, recycling nutrients back into your lawn.
If you’re interested, Water and Waste has pages devoted to composting and grasscycling, with lots of useful information and links.
For more information on waste minimization, you can also visit the following sites:
- Resource Conservation Manitoba: Compost Action Project
Resource Conservation Manitoba is a non-profit community organization offering free information on backyard composting, waste reduction and sustainable transportation. They offer composting workshops, run a number of compost demonstration sites and maintain a Compost Infoline. - Green Manitoba Eco-Solutions
Green Manitoba is a new agency set up by the Province of Manitoba. The goal of this agency is to deliver programs to foster environmental innovation and community development and they are working to set up new product stewardship programs.