Reduce - Reuse- Recycle

In 1971 my 18-year-old brother joined Pollution Probe. He and his pals initiated a recycling program in our small town of Parry Sound. Being only 9 at the time I don't remember too much about it - but I do remember Steve and friends driving around town in a pick-up truck, collecting pop cans and baling newspapers from those residents who were interested in creating less garbage. I also remember a float in our Winter Carnival that the team had created, with a papier-mache globe dripping with garbage.

Was Parry Sound the first community to have recycling I wondered. In 1971 Pollution Probe published a book titled "Recycling Project". The report stressed the need for recycling but also offered various ways to implement such programs through household sorting and collection systems.  Parry Sound's chapter of Pollution Probe was one of 60 groups throughout Ontario concerned about garbage issues. It didn't last, but about 15 years later the "Blue Box" program was introduced all over Ontario.

Now Toronto has a waste diversion program. All my fruit and vegetable peelings, teabags, eggshells and garden waste go in my composter. Other wet garbage goes in a green bin. Now that I've given up on meat again, this output could be practically nil - if it weren't for the DOG. All other garbage gets picked up every two weeks. Again - that's practically nothing because we avoid those unrecyclable clear clam shell containers that salad and eggs are sold in  and I cook fresh 99% of the time. But one does have to get rid of furnace filters, light bulbs, holy socks.

Starting last year the city demanded that all retail outlets charge a nickel per plastic bag. A great deal of us in the neighbourhood take tote bags with us and speaking of tote bags, here's one.

Something I just learned from the City of Toronto website. Don't include biodegradable packaging in the Blue Box. It messes up the sorting procedure and cannot, obviously,  be recycled into anything new. It goes in the Grey Bin where the air can get to it later in a "fill".