The new St. Albert solid waste program has been under way for a few weeks and while I am still catching up on its intricacies, overall I am thrilled with the new carts and curbside organic pickup. According to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), the City of St. Albert should be targeting a benchmark of a 50 per cent diversion rate for residential waste. The update to the solid waste management system in St. Albert certainly puts our community on the path to achieve this target.
The FCM states that 40 per cent of Canadian residential waste is organic material, including leaf and yard waste as well as household organic waste. The organic cart addition to the solid waste program could provide our community with the opportunity to meet the 50 per cent reduction benchmark by 80 per cent. The ability to have curbside pickup of all organics, coupled with the ease of using the carts is nearly perfect.
As with any new program there is a learning curve for citizens and staffers. As residents, we are learning what to put in our cart and where to place our cart for pickup while the pickup crew themselves are upgrading their skills to manoeuvre the joystick pickup truck with accuracy and skill. This knowledge will come with time and patience. Remember we are all working towards that 50 per cent reduction together.
In addition, 40 per cent of residential waste in Canada is recyclable material. This includes paper, cardboard, metal, glass and some plastics. Having been an avid recycler for years and having privately contracted for a blue bag pick-up program before it was offered through the city, a 40 per cent reduction is not at all surprising. Again in order to achieve this reduction there is some learning involved regarding what we can and can’t recycle. Fortunately the city has provided residents with great resources, both printed and online. Delivering a blue cart to driveways, similar to other Alberta communities, would improve this program.
The last 20 per cent of the average Canadian’s residential waste includes construction and demolition waste, hazardous waste and generally anything that cannot be composted or recycled. As the target for a 50 per cent waste diversion should translate to the actual landfill waste being the smallest component of the stream, the change to a bi-weekly waste pick-up is again going to take some time to which to adjust but makes great sense.
How do all of these changes actually benefit us? The benefits are three-fold, according to the FCM — people (social), planet (environmental) and profit (economic). Did you know that 14,000 tonnes of waste creates nine jobs, composting creates seven, but landfilling creates only one? The environmental benefits are plentiful — we should all be able to name at least one from memory. If you can’t, ask your kids and grandkids, as learning to respect and restore our environment is part of their curriculum. The social benefits for St. Albertans start with reducing our need for a new landfill site, which will improve the quality of life for the community that could be adjacent to such infrastructure. Waste diversion also encourages environmentally sustainable behaviour, a concept that might just pay it forward to other areas in our community.
Tanya Doran is a community member with an affinity for all things green.
