Welcome to Clean Calgary's E-Newsletter. You are receiving this because you indicated interest in receiving up to date environmental information and tips concerning Calgary and urban environmental issues.
In this issue:
A Master Composter Shares Her Experience
If there were such a thing as making a magnetic piecrust, I would refer to it to describe my experience with Clean Calgary as a Master Composter: like a rolling pin rolling out a ball of pie dough, my experience as a Master Composter worked the allegorical dough to spread in several directions at once, and like a magnet, the magnetic piecrust attracted many more similar opportunities to present themselves.
When I started the Master Composter Program last autumn I was just beginning to make sustainable and responsible choices and was therefore a bit nervous and intimidated at participating in the program. But I was immediately encouraged and eased by the warmth and vast amount of collective experience enthusiastically offered by fellow Master Composters and students. I quickly learned that this enthusiasm is inevitable when making environmentally symbiotic changes, however large or small, in our lives.
Soon after graduating from composting student to Master Composter, I made a trip to India to visit family. My slowly expanding knowledge of sustainable waste management helped me to seek out and recognize such efforts that were happening all over the villages and cities I visited. I was able to appreciate on an entirely new level the efforts many people take to minimize consumption and live resourcefully, in a country where daily life presents many difficulties. Everything from disposable plates and teacups made of banana-leaves and terracotta clay, to plastic-free towns were gleaming beacons of inspiration. My interests also lead me to visit one of several vermicomposting farms, where I was deeply awed by the simplicity and elegance of the local methods.
After returning to Calgary, I had many chances to share my new skills as a Master Composter, both through giving composting workshops and by visiting families who had joined the Waste Wise Community Outreach Program in Dalhousie. I am a fairly recent addition to the Dalhousie community, and I found it slightly frustrating that most of my interaction with the community was simply the sharing of public space:
walking my dog in common parks, getting groceries from a common market, or getting rained on at the same time. Beyond that, I didn’t have a sense of the people in my community until I was given the opportunity to approach them with a shared goal: composting.
All of the Waste Wise Community Outreach families I’ve had the gift of speaking to or meeting with have been so kind and genuine in sharing their stories and time, and they’ve been an indicator of just how much inspiration there is just next door, or down the street. They’ve shown me how the thoughtful changes we make in our lives act as a means of engaging the people around us, as it is something that involves
the exchanging of knowledge and conversation, and the sharing of lives.
As my experience and knowledge gradually grew and continues to grow, I felt comfortable making more long-awaited changes to my life, including changing jobs and improving my health, to bring myself closer to unison with the philosophies I have held for much longer than I’ve been actively practicing them. I suppose the best description of my experience as a Master Composter is not as complicated or elusive as a magnetic piecrust, but as simple as one word: catalyst. Taking a step, however tentative, in the direction you wish to go, often brings an abundance of opportunities and outlets to that would not have been found otherwise.
Lavanya Balasubramanian
Master Composter Graduate 2006
Clean Calgary Association
Protecting Our Water Quality
Equally important to conserving water is keeping the water we do use clean. Polluted water uses a lot of energy and resources to clean. It is much easier to keep water clean than to clean it.
Here are some important ways in which we can protect the quality of our water:
1. Do not flush unwanted or unused pharmaceuticals down the drain, but return them to your nearest pharmacy. Alberta has take-back programs whereby citizens can return unused drugs to pharmacies for proper disposal, free-of-charge.
2. Household cleaners that go down the drain are difficult to remove from water. Moreover, they do not go ‘away’ but end up in the aquatic home of other organisms. Try replacing toxic cleaners with a vinegar or baking soda and water or check out environmentally friendly non-toxic cleaning products such as those made locally by companies such as Small Planet, visit www.cleancalgary.org EcoStore pages for more information on Small Planet cleaning products.
3. Avoid using fertilizers, fungicides and pesticides in your yard. Fertilizers and pesticides harm our waterways, and when it rains, they can be swept in to groundwater supplies and/or our rivers.
4. Don't use household or storm drains, as dumps. Chemicals, such as leftover paint, oil and toilet cleaners pollute our waterways and are difficult to remove. For safe disposal of leftover chemicals and paints visit: http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/bu/sws/household_chemicals.pdf
5. Keep your car finely tuned. Fluids like oil or antifreeze that leak from cars are swept into waterways when it rains, and pollute water. Dispose of used oil safely, for the nearest drop off location go to: http://www.auoma.com/
6. Wash your car in a carwash. Many car washing detergents contain phosphorous, and since storm drains lead straight to the river the phosphorous cause’s explosive algae growth depleting water of oxygen, killing fish and aquatic life. A City ordinance called the Drainage Bylaw prohibits Calgarians from discharging vehicle wash water into the storm drain system. The Bylaw states that if you are washing your car on the street, you can only use water and must not use soap of any kind, even biodegradable, and that your car must not be overly dirty. The fine for a first offense is $3000.00.
7. Pick up after your pets! Pet waste contains harmful bacteria that can wash into rivers, streams and lakes.
All of the above mentioned sources of pollution are called nonpoint source pollution or people pollution, meaning the pollution cannot be attributed to any one source, for instance a factory, but is the result of a multitude of sources. The combined impact of our everyday behavior takes its toll on water. While these actions may seem small, imagine how clean the water would be if everyone did these things!
Ask Ashley - The Unusuals – Recycling, Taken to the Next Level
Q:
Hello Ashley,
I was delighted to come across the Guide to Reuse and Recycling and I was impressed by the level of detail. I’m an avid recycler but there were at least a dozen items that you gave solutions for that I never thought could go anywhere but the trash. I’m sure there are many people like me that might not even look in the guide for something like wine corks but it’s refreshing to know that they don’t have to end up in the garbage. Perhaps you could compile a list of the unusual items that might have evaded even the keenest of recyclers.
Cheers,
Tammy
A:
Dearest Tammy,
While only 20% of Calgary’s waste is being recycled (80% landfilled), it seems that those individuals that actually make the effort to recycle really, really like it. It must be the heroic feeling a person gets when he or she manages to wrestle their cardboard into the overloaded recycling bins or perhaps it’s the feeling of rest assuredness that comes with recycling, knowing that it’s helping save precious resources for countless numbers of future generations. Whatever it is a small percentage of people are hooked. I get numerous emails from individuals that already compost and recycle their paper and cardboard, plastic bags, milk cartons, tin and glass, yet they’re still unsatisfied with the amount of garbage they are sending to landfill. They are hell bent not to produce waste, to have zero waste. I’m sure it is this group that will most appreciate this list, so here it is – a list of 15 of the more difficult, if not unusual, items to recycle in Calgary.
1. Phones – Clean Calgary Association accepts cell phone donations, whereby phones are refurbished and sent to areas of the world where landlines are not present or where the cost of a new phone is prohibitive. Some phones are donated to shelters. Likewise, Think Food has various cell phone collection sites across the country, where cell phones can be donated. Regular telephones can be recycled at Ecycle Solutions (3121 16th St NE or 2405 Macleod Trail SW, 945-2611) or Technotrash Alberta Ltd. (4915 – 77 Ave SE, 265-2332).
2. Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFL’s) – These little energy savers have enough mercury in them to contaminate 6,500 litres of water so it’s best to recycle them. While there is not a municipal fluorescent tube recycling program, Ikea (8000 11 St. S.E. (Deerfoot Meadows)) will accept them for recycling from their customers.
3. Smoke Detectors – many of these little life savers contain the radioactive material Americium 241. In response to stringent regulations in some jurisdictions, the major smoke detector manufacturers have set up take-back programs to deal with ionization smoke detectors in an environmentally responsible manner.
Send First Alert, BRK and Family Guard Smoke Detectors to: BRK Brands, 25 Spur Drive, El Paso, TX 79906, (800) 323-9005; www.firstalert.com. On the front of the package, write “For Disposal.” Up to five smoke alarms are accepted for free.
Ship American Sensors and Dicon Smoke Detectors by surface mail to: Dicon Inc., 20 Steelcase Road West, Unit #3, Markham, Ontario L3R 1B2, Canada, (800) 387-4219. On the front of the package, write “For Recycling, $0 Value.”
4. Batteries – rechargeable batteries, under tough regulations set by the US EPA, are widely accepted for recycling. Dead rechargeable batteries can be taken to all Battery Experts, Battery Plus, Bell World, FIDO, Future Shop, The Home Depot, Home Hardware, London Drugs, Makita Factory Service Centers, Personal Edge/ Centre du Rasoir, Revy, Sears, The Sony Store, The Source by Circuit City, Telus Mobility and Zellers stores for recycling. Visit www.rbrc.org or call 1-800-8-BATTERY or 1-877-2-RECYCLE to find the nearest retail collection site.
While there is not a municipal recycling program for single use batteries, Mountain Equipment Co-op (830 – 10th Ave SW, 269-2420) and Ikea (8000 11 St. S.E. (Deerfoot Meadows)) are accepting them from their customers. Similarly, All Start (107 – 46th Ave SW, 243-1090) will recycle single use batteries for a small fee.
5. Microwaves – These can be recycled at Ecycle Solutions (3121 16th St NE or 2405 Macleod Trail SW, 945-2611) or Technotrash Alberta Ltd. (4915 – 77 Ave SE, 265-2332).
6. Eye Glasses – Lions Recycle for Sight collects and distributes recycled eyeglasses to individuals in Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, El Salvador, Ghana, Haiti, the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Samoa, Tanzania, Togo, and Zambia. Lens Crafters, King Optical, Zellers Pharmacy, Wal-Mart Vision Stores, Norampac, among others collect used glasses on behalf of the Lions Recycle for Sight.
7. Wine Corks – The non-synthetic wine corks can go right into your compost heap. Simply tear the cork up, add it to your pile and watch it disappear. Wine corks function as brown carbonaceous material.
8. Tree trimmings, brush and yard waste – Can be taken to the East Calgary Landfill Site (17 Ave & 68 Street SE) to be composted at their commercial scale composting pad. It must be requested at the scale house that this material is to be added to the branch pile set up for landscapers. The cost is $5 for 250kg or less, or if a person has more than 250kg, a fee of $30/tonne must be paid (as opposed to $50/ tonne for regular municipal solid waste).
9. Running Shoes – The Running Room Canada Inc. will accept good condition running shoes to distribute to the less fortunate. All Running Room stores will accept running shoes year-round. Visit www.runningroom.com/hm/inside.php?id=3033 for a directory of stores.
10. Books – Calgary Public Libraries accept book donations (with the exception of encyclopedias) year-round at their central circulation desks. Visit www.calgarypubliclibrary.com/library/branches.aspx for a list of branches. Likewise, Calgary Reads collects books from May 1st through to the final week of May each year for its annual book sale. Visit www.calgaryreads.com/index.htm or call 777-8254 for more information.
11. Bicycles – Bow Cycle and Sports (6501 Bowness Rd NW, 288-5422) accepts children’s bikes for their Bikes for Kids program. Bikes are collected, refurbished and donated to local charities. Donations can be made from November 1st to December 1st each year. For information on how to donate a bike internationally visit www.giveabicycle.org for some ideas.
12. Fleece Jackets – Garments (MEC brands, Polartec, Eco Circle and Patagonia) made with 90% polyester or greater can be taken to Mountain Equipment Co-op (830 – 10th Ave SW, 269-2420) for recycling. Elements, the Patagonia Store (135 – 8th Ave SW, 266-6463) will accept polyester items that are part of the Patagonia Common Threads Recycling Program. These programs are for clothing that can no longer be worn. Visit www.patagonia.com for more information.
13. Records and Cassette Tapes – Recordland (1208 9 Avenue SE, 262-3839) buys, sells and trades vintage music.
14. CDs/DVDs – Technotrash Alberta Ltd. (4915 – 77 Ave SE, 265-2332) will recycle those CDs and DVDs that are destined for the trash can.
15. Miscellaneous – Unloading useful items has never been easier. Craigslist (http://calgary.craigslist.org/) features free classifieds with jobs, internships, housing, for sale/barter/wanted, services, etc, while Freecycle (www.freecycle.org/) offers a great resource for finding or getting rid of items at no charge.
If you think I’ve missed something important please have a look at Clean Calgary’s Guide to Reuse and Recycling to see if it’s already in there. If I’ve missed something, please let me know and I’ll do my best to add it. By all means, keep the great questions and comments coming. And cheers to all those striving for zero waste.
Unusually,
Ashley
Ashley Lubyk, BSC in Environmental Science, is a Calgary Materials Exchange Program Assistant at Clean Calgary Association.
Please send your question concerning Water, Waste, or Recycling to Ashley Lubyk
Phone Books are Coming - How to Recycle Them
Two separate phone directory companies operate in Calgary. Yellowpages distributes their wares during the month of October and Canpages come out in December. The arrival of new phone books at your home or office brings up the question of how to recycle the old ones. Thankfully, at least one of these companies is taking responsibility for its waste.
Yellowpages is offering a free recycling box for all customers who receive 150 or more phone books. You can order your recycling bin by emailing a request to recycle@ypg.com. They company will provide you with a collection box for the phone books and they will even pick it up when it is full.
In addition, the Yellowpages Group is providing City of Calgary Waste and Recycling Services with a subsidy to help them deal with the phone books entering the recycling stream at the Recycling Depots. Residents are invited to drop off their old phone books at any of the depots located around the City.
If you are neither a resident nor a commercial customer receiving more than 150 books, you can contact the Calgary Materials Exchange at 230-1443 ext 226 for details on how to recycle your old phone books. Alternatively, you can work with your regular paper recycler to handle the old books.
Canpages, which distributes over 540,000 phone books in Calgary, provides no programs.
Approximately 1.4 million phone directories will be distributed in Calgary in 2007, which creates considerable waste. Legislation states that white pages must be distributed to each home with a land line, which means that the law would need to be changed in order to curb this practice. The advertising directories are a different story, however, because they are the product of the directory distribution firms and therefore, are not mandatory to receive. Hopefully, as transportation costs increase, alternatives such as or providing CDs/DVDs to businesses and residents or promoting a web-based directory, which has already been developed, will be adopted. Until then, just make sure your old phone books don’t end up in the landfill.
Grow-A-Note Paper Sheets Just Arrived at the EcoStore!
Want to make your own invitations or cards, but can’t find environmentally-friendly paper? These 13” x 19” sheets are made from 100% recycled paper that is embedded with wildflower seeds. The recipient of your unique creation can plant the card for further enjoyment.
Price: $6.25 each
EcoStore – 809 4th Ave SW – 230.1443 ext. 222.
We are open Wed, Fri and Sat 10am – 4pm and Thu 10am – 7pm.
Backyard Composting Workshop
Dalhousie Community Hall
5432 Dalhart Road NW
Saturday October 13
9:30 am – 10:45 am
$10.00 (100% Calgary Dollars Accepted)
Reserve your seat. Call Jen @230 – 1443 ext 222
jen@cleancalgary.org
Make Your Own Aerated Compost Tea Workshop - The Cheapest, Most Effective Way to Revitalize Your Yard.
Looking for a new natural way to improve the health of your soil and plants? In this course you will learn:
- The history and benefits of aerated compost tea
- How to make your own compost tea brewer in a 5 gallon pail
- How you can use these liquid organics to build healthy plants and soil
Aerated compost tea is made by putting good compost in a bucket or barrel of water and bubbling lots of air through it. The wonderful soil micro-organisms in the compost multiply and you are left with a rich 'soup' that can then be sprayed on your soil and plants.
Soil micro-organisms are important to the health of your soil and plants because they break down organic matter and make nutrients available to plants.
Saturday, September 29, 2007 @ 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Instructor: Laureen Rama
Price: $10.00 (100% Calgary Dollars Accepted)
Crowfoot Public Library
Register your seat by calling 230 – 1443 ext. 225 or by email: jen@cleancalgary.org
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