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Ridge Meadows Recycling Society supports the diversion efforts of Metro Vancouver.
Starting January 1, 2015, Metro Vancouver is placing a ban on organic materials from its waste facilities.
This means residents and businesses will be required to separate organic materials like kitchen scraps and yard trimmings from their regular garbage.
For Maple Ridge residents & businesses:
-if you have a private garbage company picking up at your home or business, call them and find out how they will be picking up organic waste separate from your other garbage as they will have to comply with the ban to continue collecting garbage in the Metro Vancouver area.
-many residents have composters, food digesters, or farm animals and are able to deal with food scraps and yard waste in their own backyard with the help of the Seasonal Chipping Program.
-for residents who bring their garbage directly to the Maple Ridge Transfer Station, Metro Vancouver has a separate food scrap drop-off area in addition to their existing yard waste drop-off area. Bonus: Green waste tipping fees are much less than garbage tipping fees!
Restaurants and food service operators may benefit from Metro Vancouver’s publication, “Closing the Loop.”
For more information, visit Metro Vancouver’s website or watch their video.
In this month’s newsletter, we reveal the mysteries of the Orange Bag and celebrate Waste Reduction Week!
PLUS! UBC student Ash Milton highlights the dangers of space debris.
Click to view a pdf copy of the RMRS October, 2014 Newsletter. This and past newsletters are archived on our website.
Ridge Meadows Recycling Society has created a special Waste Reduction Challenge badge for Maple Ridge Guide & Scout groups in honour of Waste Reduction Week in October.
“We are excited to be working with Guide & Scout groups this year,” says Carol Botting, President of Ridge Meadows Recycling, “Caring for the environment has always been an integral part of the Scouting and Guiding movements and partnering with them is a natural fit for our Society.”
Local Guide & Scout groups have been given a list of Ridge Meadows Recycling Society’s challenges through their Area Commissioners which they must fulfill in order to get the badge. There are three different sets of challenges, depending on the age group. The first set is designed for younger kids and includes Sparks, Brownies, and Beaver Scouts. The second set is for Guides and Cub Scouts, and the third is designed for the older Pathfinders and Scouts.
A
ll challenges include learning how to sort their family’s recycling & set it out at the curb by 7:00am on recycling day, but also cover topics like litterless lunches, composting, and energy & water conservation. The groups will receive a visit from Ridge Meadows Recycling’s Environmental Educator, Dan Mikolay, and the older kids will be touring the Maple Ridge Recycling Depot to learn more about the recycling process.
To book a workshop with Dan for your Scout or Guide group, simply fill out the form below!
“Both youth & adult members of Scouting in Maple Ridge are looking forward to working on the Waste Reduction Challenge,” says Three Rivers Area Commissioner Christi Goncalves, “From the Beaver Scouts’ promise to ‘help take care of the world’ to the Scouts’ law to be ‘wise in the use of all resources,’ environmentalism is found at all stages of the Scouting movement.”
“Part of the Girl Guides of Canada Law is a notation that it is our responsibility to protect our common environment,” adds Lougheed Area Commissioner Darlene Kent, “We make it fun so the girls learn about conservation, water, nature, ecology, sustainability, and so many other topics. As future leaders, we will need our Girls to continue to protect our environment.”
Youth can learn more about Guiding or Scouting by visiting their websites at www.girlguides.ca and www.scouts.ca Anyone interested in visiting or registering in a local group can contact:
Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers, & Rovers (co-ed):
Christi Goncalves, 604-818-7625, or email c.goncalves@telus.net
Sparks, Brownies, Guides, & Pathfinders (girls only):
BC Girl Guide office, 1-800-565-8111 or www.girlguides.ca
The Ridge Meadows Recycling Waste Reduction Challenge badge is available to any member of Guiding (Sparks – Pathfinders) or Scouting (Beavers – Scouts) in Maple Ridge who has completed the requirements. Challenge badges will be handed out to Guide & Scout representatives at a special Waste Reduction Week presentation to Maple Ridge Mayor & Council at 7:00pm on Tuesday, October 28, 2014.
Downloads for Leaders & Parents:
Download the 2014 RMRS Waste Reduction Challenge Badge Requirements, the WRW2014 – Sparks-Brownies-Beavers Worksheet, the WRW2014 – Guides-Cubs Worksheet, or the WRW2014 – Pathfinders-Scouts Worksheet!
If you are a parent or leader, also check out Message to Parents – Sparks – Guides & Beavers – Cubs, Message to Parents – Pathfinders & Scouts, Message to Leaders – Sparks – Guides & Beavers – Cubs, or Message to Leaders – Pathfinders & Scouts.
In this month’s newsletter, we prep you for a Green Back-to-School (Finally!) with litterless lunches, the 3Rs of school supplies, and a Waste Reduction Challenge for the Guides & Scouts in your life.
Click to view a pdf copy of the RMRS September, 2014 Newsletter. This and past newsletters are archived on our website.
In this month’s issue we look at how packaging design has changed over the past century, Big Feast Chef Mike Mulcahy talks about reuse in his restaurant, and we explore the tension between practical reuse and the push to declutter. Happy Summer!
Click to view a pdf copy of the RMRS August, 2014 Newsletter. This and past newsletters are archived on our website.
In this month’s issue we explore the power of our beliefs, the memories of childhood, and highlight some of the summer events we’ve been making appearances at. Check it out!
Click to view a pdf copy of the RMRS July, 2014 Newsletter. This and past newsletters are archived on our website.
REDUCE is the first “R,” but many people don’t realize how much of an impact this one makes on the other two (Reuse & Recycle).
In this month’s newsletter, we look at how reducing our packaging, our consumption, makes the need for the other two obsolete and improves the natural world in ways we may not even be aware of.
Learn more about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, calculators to determine your Ecological Footprint, and much more…
Click to view a pdf copy of the RMRS June, 2014 Newsletter. This and past newsletters are archived on our website.
Speaking to residents at Earth Day and the Home Show, a lot of people had questions about how the new MMBC recycling program (which began Monday, May 19) will affect our recycling here in Maple Ridge. While there are many internal changes for us (facility re-design, funding and reporting), the changes for Maple Ridge residents are minimal. In fact, we will be able to take a few new items in the curbside bags (houses & townhouses), and recycling totes (apartment buildings). Download your New Curbside Recycling Flyer – May, 2014 or New Apartment Recycling Flyer – May, 2014
The main things we are asking residents to do for the new program are:
- Place all plastic wrap and grocery bags into one bag and tie the top. This will keep soft plastic wrap, film & bags separate from the hard plastic (bottles, etc.) and make it easier for our Sorters.
- Take lids off ALL glass bottles and jars. Plastic lids go in the pink bag or labelled tote, metal lids go in the red bag or labelled tote.
- We are phasing out the green bag/tote. All green bag/tote items (office paper, magazines, etc.) may now be placed in the blue bag/tote (newspaper).
- As before, please flatten ALL cardboard and wash & squash all containers to enable our drivers to fit more recycling in the trucks!
- Note that styrofoam, lightbulbs, books, paint (cans and aerosol), and other metal are ONLY accepted at the Maple Ridge Recycling Depot, NOT curbside. The Depot is located at 10092 – 236th Street, just off River Road in the Albion Industrial Area.
New Accepted Items:
plastics #3, 6, & 7,
aerosol cans (MUST be empty, NO paint cans),
aseptic (tetra-pak style) soup cartons,
paper coffee cups
NOT Accepted:
multi-layered chip bags & dog food bags,
broken cups or dishes,
waxed cardboard,
padded envelopes,
plastic or foil gift wrap,
paper towels,
tissue paper
Thank you for your support and thank you for recycling!
On May 19, 2014, MultiMaterial BC launched a new recycling program in British Columbia based on the targets set out by the Provincial Recycling Regulations for packaging & printed paper.
In Maple Ridge, this means we are now accepting new items and ask residents to:
-Place ALL plastic bags and wrap in a plastic grocery bag and tie the top closed
-Place glass bottles & jars loose in the blue box. REMOVE all lids & put in appropriate bag or tote (eg. plastic, metal)
-Clean and FLATTEN all cardboard & containers (more fits on truck, reduces trips back to depot 🙂
Download our RMRS May, 2014 Newsletter to learn more about the changes or click on the Recycling Report picture below. You can also download the New Curbside Recycling Flyers – May, 2014 or New Apartment Recycling Flyers – May, 2014
Thank you for helping divert food scraps from your garbage and conserve water by ordering your Composter, Solar Cone Food Digester, and Rainbarrel through our office. We are now SOLD OUT of these items for 2014. We will be offering them for sale again in the Spring of 2015. Happy Gardening!
