Waste Diversion
The manner in which we deal with our ''waste" is a key part of the foundation of a sustainable world. Isn't sustainability another word for balance? We must learn how to use the world's resources such as wood, rocks, metals and oil in a more balanced manner.
Waste diversion is critical to mitigating climate change. In Canada we use more energy in producing products and packaging (45%) than we use for driving (10%), heating, cooling and lighting our homes (20%), combined! Significantly, more than 60% of the solid waste stream is organic material: wood, paper, foodscraps and leaf and yard material. Degrading in a landfill with little/no oxygen, this organic material produces methane and other GHGs -- now thought to be 70 times more potent than CO2 over it's shorter lifetime in the atmosphere (12-20 yrs vs. 100 yrs for CO2).
The major focuses of the Waste Diversion Campaign involve; increasing recycling diversion rates, implementing foodscrap collection programs and reducing, reusing and recycling, electronic waste, household furnishings, clothing, household hazardous waste and renovation debris.
The campaign works thoughout Ontario. If you want to volunteer or have recommendations for the campaign, please contact the chair, Rod Muir at (rodmuir <at> sympatico.ca).
20 Ways to Reuse Coffee Grounds and Tea Leaves
Submitted by Kristina Jackson on Thu, 2012-05-03 14:51From Treehugger.com:
20 Ways to Reuse Coffee Grounds and Tea Leaves
This starts off with a recipe for a coffee ground body scrub and careens off into using tea leaves to get pet odors out of your carpet. Great down-home advice on re-use of a waste product most of us create daily. ... Read more »
Voice Your Concern regarding the Ontario Ministry of Environment’s Proposal to Exempt Transportation of Hazardous Waste from Licensing Requirements
Submitted by Kristina Jackson on Fri, 2012-04-20 12:22From our friends at CELA & Ecojustice:... Read more »
Earth Day - Mom to Mom sale
Submitted by Kristina Jackson on Tue, 2012-04-17 11:28From one of our friends in Richmond Green comes this bright idea you can join in or start in your own neighborhood:
First Annual Earth Day
Mom to Mom Sale
Sunday, April 22, 2012, 1pm to 4pm
Join us at the Richmond Green Poultry Barn (Ag#2)
Just north of the Elgin Mills parking lot towards Leslie. Across the path from the Beading Artists Show (rhbeadart.com) at the Boynton House from 10am to 6:30pm
At our sale, Costco will be selling new memberships. New members get a $10 gift card and a $10 gift card goes to charity.
Celebrate Earth Day by buying new or previously loved baby & kid's items - clothing, toys, books & gear! What an easy way to reduce, reuse & save money!... Read more »
Which Plastics can you recycle in your city? Quick links to various Ontario cities' recycling rules
Submitted by Shaima Al-Khalili on Thu, 2012-02-23 14:28
Plastics! You move from city to city in Ontario and all the regulations you thought you knew about plastic suddenly change. It can definitely get complicated, so we have provided city/region specific plastic recycling rules for Ontario. We hope this helps!
It is also good to remember, that simply because some plastics are recyclable, this does not mean it is environmentally friendly to consume them. It is always better to go with an "unpackaged" option. For example, if your local grocer has raspberries in a green carton, that would be a better choice than the plastic clam shell provided at a larger grocer chain. The less plastic we consume, the more the market will be forced to head in another direction!
... Read more »
Canada joins Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves
Submitted by Shaima Al-Khalili on Thu, 2012-02-16 15:18
Canada’s Environment Minister, Peter Kent, has announced today that Canada will be joining the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves and will pledge 3 million dollars over a course of 2 years. Run by UNEP, this Alliance is an effort to reduce global emissions from short-lived climate pollutants (soot, methane, hydrofluorocarbons, etc), which are responsible for 30-40% of Global Warming.
Link to Environment Canada announcement (Feb 16, 2012):
http://www.ec.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En&n=2D1D6FA7-1&news=233D2134-AC02-4CC3-AA91-7A321C524B11
Link to NY Times article regarding the US led meeting for the program (Feb 15, 2012):... Read more »
Update on Ontario waste: the good & the bad
Submitted by Kristina Jackson on Wed, 2012-02-15 15:28Sierra Club Ontario is a member group of Toronto Environmental Alliance. They are doing a great job on provincial and local waste reduction/ management issues.
From TEA:
Ontario's waste diversion strategy is getting back on track!
Early February, the Premier announced plans to improve waste diversion in Ontario.... Read more »
Birthday of the beer can
Submitted by Kristina Jackson on Tue, 2012-01-31 13:40...from healthy glass to BPA epoxy lined aluminum cans. It is nothing to celebrate.
by Lloyd Alter, January 30, 2012 published on www.treehugger.com... Read more »
Trees -- They Fix Everything
Submitted by Kristina Jackson on Fri, 2012-01-27 15:06By Jeff Alan
Over the holidays I dismantled another misbehaving giant LCD. The problem was that periodically, the screen would garble, and if you waited a couple hours it might fix itself. Or it wouldn't. Either way, it wasn't behaving and it was being replaced. The only indicator that it might be an easy fix was that bashing the top right of the frame would correct the error, if only temporarily. Other investigation aside...
Reducing the device to the point where we had access to (what was probably) the data feeds in the top of the TV, my accomplice and I found that there were flat ribbon cables attached along the top of the LCD panel from long, thin boards (each half had its own board and set of four). We fiddled with these while the TV ran, unable to trigger the dysfunction. So, we waited and hoped and... sure enough, the problem started.... Read more »
Is your fridge wasting food & electricity?
Submitted by Kristina Jackson on Fri, 2012-01-27 11:39
Ever noticed some people get by with much smaller fridges? It's not always because they go out to dinner every night. I stayed with a family in Shanghai who ate almost entirely home-cooked, healthy food and had a tiny fridge. You may be surprised how alternate handling of a lot of your food makes it last longer - and uses less space in your fridge.
According to Lloyd Alter with Treehugger.com, too many of us use our fridge as "an expensive air conditioned parking lots for what Shay Salomon called "compost and condiments."
Smaller fridge = less electricity. ... Read more »
Wattch This - more energy info for the computer savvy
Submitted by Guest on Tue, 2011-12-06 14:46More ways you can 'monitor' your computer's energy use (part 2 of 2)
Wattch This
By Jeff Alan
Computer power consumption, while receiving increasing attention, is still a confusing beast. One of the biggest potential power drains in a system could be the video card. This is easiest to explain with this fantastic writeup and chart:
http://forums.atomicmpc.com.au/index.php?showtopic=264... Read more »
Less Power to the People - energy awareness for the computer savvy
Submitted by Guest on Tue, 2011-12-06 14:41So, you use a computer - how else would you be looking at this website? Here are some tips from an engineer on how you can lessen your impact without missing out. (part 1 of 2)
Less Power to the People
by Jeff Alan
If you've purchased a computer power supply any time in recent years, you may have noticed a smattering of logos and numbers on the box. What's good to know?
80PLUS1– This is a rating system for power supplies (PSUs) based on efficiency. In order to meet basic 80+, a power supply must be able to provide greater than 80% efficiency at a number of power loads. However, this does not say anything about efficiency when the system is idling. There are different levels, too (standard, bronze, silver, gold, platinum). Leading to...... Read more »
Don't Trash our Environment: Why Companies Need to be Part of Ontario's Waste Solution
Submitted by Andrew Holownych on Wed, 2011-10-19 11:16
A recent report by the Toronto Environmental Alliance highlights the main issues in solving our waste problems in Toronto. The report looks at why city taxes and waste fees are covering the cost of waste created by companies. The report also shows there's a better way to manage waste, and there are great examples from right here in Ontario of businesses that are doing their part to cut waste.
Highlights from the report are:
... Read more »
GFL winning bidder for Toronto garbage contract
Submitted by Andrew Holownych on Wed, 2011-10-19 10:40
A Pickering firm run by a former minor hockey league goalie has emerged as the recommended winning bidder on the city’s controversial garbage out-sourcing deal, city hall sources have confirmed. An announcement is expected at a news conference scheduled for noon.... Read more »
Seas of Plastic - TED talk
Submitted by Andrew Holownych on Tue, 2011-08-23 11:32Captain Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation first discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch -- an endless floating waste of plastic trash. Now he's drawing attention to the growing, choking problem of plastic debris in our seas.
Watch his TED talk here on the state of plastic in our seas.
Peter Gabriel Creates Amazing DJ booth
Submitted by Andrew Holownych on Mon, 2011-08-15 11:02Peter Gabriel has found a fantastically funky solution to all those CD, VHS and tape cassettes when he created a DJ Booth at WOMAD (world of music, art, and dance).
The Pod People
Submitted by Guest on Mon, 2011-08-15 10:35These one-off “pod” beverage machines seem to be everywhere these days. A bunch of them use metal and/or plastic pods. Ever wonder what happens to the spent ones? Not all are created equal, none of them are particularly environmentally friendly by default. If you're not already brewing your own...... Read more »
Private garbage pickup coming sooner than expected
Submitted by Andrew Holownych on Fri, 2011-08-12 11:34The cities move to privitizing waste collection seems to be moving ahead rather quickly. The recent article by the Toronto Star highlights two issues: costs savings of $6 to $8 million, as well as Mayor Rob Ford’s administration attempt to negotiate away a clause protecting permanent workers from losing their jobs to outsourcing. This article misses many important points related to the garbade issue. To read about these, check out the story by NOW magazine below: "10 reasons why private garbage is a trashy idea"
10 reasons why private garbage is a trashy idea
Submitted by Andrew Holownych on Tue, 2011-07-26 11:22As the battle over privitization of Toronto's garbage issue continues, it is important that Torontonians know the full costs of swtiching to garbage collection by private corporations. While the benefits proposed by pro-privitization interests seem postive, (possibly lower operating costs- see story below about TEA study; no chance of a garbage strike like in 2009), there are many negative effects that also must be considered.
Read the 10 reasons why private garbage is a trashy idea from NOW Magazine here.
Nuclear Boob Tube
Submitted by Guest on Wed, 2011-06-08 15:05By Jeff Alan
On June 3rd, 2011 the Darlington Joint Review Panel let it be known that they are now working on the environmental assessment report.
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/commission/joint_review_panel/darlington/index.cfm
Keep your eyes and ears open for horsefeathers. There's a lot to watch.... Read more »
TEA study of privatizing waste shows savings overrated (May2011)
Submitted by Guest on Wed, 2011-05-11 09:52Look Before You Leap: An Environmental Perspective on Privatizing Waste Collection in Toronto
By Toronto Environmental Alliance
May 2011
Executive Summary
For almost 20 years, TEA has been fighting for waste diversion and reduction across Toronto. Today, Toronto has some of the most advanced waste diversion programs in the country. Currently, City Hall is debating whether to privatize waste collection services west of Yonge Street. ... Read more »
