Bring a Tin with the Bin when you recycle your Blue Boxes

WINNIPEG, MB - The City of Winnipeg has partnered with Winnipeg Harvest to give residents the opportunity to give new life to their unwanted Blue Boxes.

Residents are invited to drop off their old Blue Boxes and garbage containers at any of three depots in November. Blue Boxes that are in good condition will be used by Winnipeg Harvest. Containers that are not reusable will be recycled by the City. Winnipeg Harvest also invites you to bring a "Tin with the Bin."

The following depots are open from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for three dates only:

Winnipeg Harvest will use the Blue Boxes for a variety of purposes, including the Blue Box Gardening Program, food collection, delivery of emergency food hampers, and storage in the warehouse.

David Northcott, Executive Director of Winnipeg Harvest, says, "A big thanks to the City of Winnipeg for working with us to reuse Blue Boxes. The donation of Blue Boxes from the community-at-large will allow us to get 'hands on food security and hands off hunger'. Engagement is a key theme in all the programs at Winnipeg Harvest. Growing, tending, nurturing and enjoying the result is what we are all about, be it people, plants or ideas."

Darryl Drohomerski, the City's Manager of Solid Waste Services, says, "If you don't need your old Blue Boxes and garbage cans around the house or as yard waste collection containers, donating them is a double holiday gift — it benefits the environment by keeping them out of the landfill and it gives Winnipeg Harvest a helping hand during a season when many of our citizens are in need."

With Winnipeg's new recycling and garbage collection services in effect for residents of all single-family properties since the first week of October 2012, automated collection of rolling recycling and garbage carts has replaced manual collection of blue boxes and garbage containers.