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MARCH 16, 2020 UPDATE: Looking at the growing concern about spreading the COVID-19 virus, we see no alternative but to add our #MapleRidge Earth Day celebration to the ever-growing list of cancelled events ☹ We would hate that an event to celebrate Healthy Communities be the reason someone gets sick.
Our planning committee has already put many, many hours of work into what was set to be an amazing day. They are all superstars.
We’re so sorry we have to cancel this year’s event, but look forward to working with everyone on next year’s event.
Gain comfort in the emerging reality of people slowing down, taking a (forced) rest, and spending time with their family, in their gardens, and outside in nature. With enough time to pause and relax and re-think and re-group and re-connect, it may even be the beginning of a paradigm-shift.
Fingers crossed. Wash your hands. Stay safe.
We will be contacting participants who have already registered about refunding fees or using them as pre-registration for next year’s event.
PS. You can still enter the Celebrate Earth Day Poetry & Photo Contests…
With sad hearts we are cancelling all Repair Cafés for the forseeable future due to concern about the COVID-19 virus spread.
The safety and well-being of our volunteers (many of whom are seniors) and our community members is paramount and we would hate to be the reason someone develops an illness.
Your patience and understanding is greatly appreciated. If you are interested in learning about home repairs, there are many online resources, including these ones from the Share, Reuse, Repair Initiative: www.sharereuserepair.org/repair-at-home-resources
Stay safe, wash your hands, and keep on repairing!
The Maple Ridge Repair Café Planning Team
If you visited the Maple Ridge Recycling Depot anytime between Christmas and January 11, you probably noticed it’s our busiest time of the year as people clean up after the holidays and recycle A LOT of stuff!! Luckily, our great staff were able to keep things moving and the weather wasn’t too disruptive.
In this newsletter…
-Save the Date! Celebrate Earth Day 2020 plans are coming together…
–Celebrate Earth Day Poetry & Photo Contest NOW OPEN!!
-Ridge Meadows Recycling Society is now accepting membership applications! Sign up for (free!) membership before March 5 & enjoy socializing with other members and board members at our Annual General Meeting on April 2.
-Next Maple Meadows Green Drinks gathering is on Thursday, January 30, 6:30pm at Bean Around Books. The topic & speakers will be on green transportation in Maple Ridge…
-Save the Date! Maple Ridge Repair Cafes – Year 3 launches on Saturday, February 15, 11am at the Maple Ridge Library
-Meet our awesome Repair Cafe volunteer, Claude!
-Lots of local events coming up to keep your community spirit warm & bright!
Subscribe to our monthly newsletters & get all our recycling updates, news, and tips emailed straight to your inbox! You can unsubscribe at any time.
Keeping an eye on the weather forecast, we wanted to give you the following info on curbside blue box recycling pickup in case of heavy snowfall…
- Check our website or Facebook page to see if your recycling pickup has been cancelled because of the snow.
- The safety of our staff and the public is our first priority.
- We will endeavour to complete pickup routes during snow events, but it may be necessary to cancel recycling pickup in certain areas or on certain days due to safety concerns.
- Each snow event will be assessed separately and we will do our best to communicate any cancellations or updates to you through our website, phone system, and social media sites. You can also sign up for our mailing list to receive direct email alerts, stat holiday reminders, and our monthly newsletter.
- Some areas are not safe for our trucks to travel during snowfalls. If you live in a hilly area or on a street that’s difficult to access, please do not put your recycling out in heavy snow. We will pick up your recycling the following week, weather permitting. You can also bring it to the Maple Ridge Recycling Depot during open hours (we are open 7 days a week).
Thank you very much for your understanding & patience!
Last year, just after Christmas, we had some of our paper bales rejected because they had too much plastic/foil wrap mixed in as well as ribbons & bows. All of these bales ended up in the garbage 🙁
At the Recycling Depot, we can usually monitor the non-paper gift wrap and keep contamination levels low, but when it is REALLY busy (right after Christmas), we get up to 600-750 cars per day and staff are unable to keep up with the amount of non-paper wrap & ribbons people are dropping off.
We do accept PAPER gift wrap at the Depot, however, during this busy time it is too much for our staff to keep up with, so we have made the decision not to accept any of it until the busy time is over.
Apologies for the confusion & happy holidays! We welcome your PAPER gift wrap at the Recycling Depot anytime after January 5!
| 2019 was a year of new events (Car Free Day, Green Drinks), continued successes (Maple Ridge Repair Cafes, Celebrate Earth Day), and some hard losses (RMRS Board Member Jon Harris, past Board Member Bernice Gehring, and Haney Farmers Market & Earth Day volunteer Paul Dwillies).
Huge thank you’s to all our volunteers and supporters – from our amazing Board of Directors to our Repair Cafe Fixers to everyone who made Celebrate Earth Day 2019 such a success.
Post-Christmas, don’t forget to save your wrappings, trimmings, and trappings to reuse next year! See holiday guide below on how to recycle all your packaging…
Happy New Year from Ridge Meadows Recycling and may 2020 bring you ever closer to Zero Waste 🙂
Subscribe to our monthly newsletters & get all our recycling updates, news, and tips emailed straight to your inbox! You can unsubscribe at any time.
|
We were saddened to learn of the passing of Jon Harris, a long-time Ridge Meadows Recycling Society Board Member.
Jon had always been involved in his community. He lived in Maple Ridge all his life and served on the Maple Ridge Council for 12 years.
He volunteered for the Fire Department, Parks & Leisure, and Scouts Canada. Jon joined the Ridge Meadows Recycling Society after retiring as a way to stay involved in his community.
We will miss him and are thinking of his loved ones at this time.
Jon’s story was profiled in a 2007 BC Notaries publication:
“I think the biggest challenge for our Society is the extremely complicated nature of recycling. It continues to change at a rapid pace as new technology and processes are developed and societal attitudes towards waste reduction shift.
Ridge Meadows Recycling’s biggest strength is its flexibility, the ability to be adaptable and move with the changing times. Part of this ease is due to the strong principles the society is founded on, which guide the Board of Directors when faced with difficult decisions.”
-Jon Harris, 2012
In this newsletter…
- Mark our 2019 Holiday Recycling Pickup Schedule on your calendar (especially if you have recycling pickup on WEDNESDAYS) and check out our 2020 Stat Holiday Calendar.
- Keep your Christmas green by giving experiences instead of gifts, re-using your wrapping paper, and planning to give away leftovers after a big meal. Metro Vancouver has lots of great tips and gift ideas for a variety of budgets on their Merry Memory Maker.
- Check out the next video in our “How to Recycle” video series…
- The next Green Drinks is all about climate-friendly festivities! Join your fellow greenies on Tues, Nov.26 at 6:30pm at Bean Around Books!
- Our LAST Repair Cafe of 2019 is THIS Saturday, November 23 at the Library – bring us your broken (Christmas!) stuff!! PLUS – Repair Cafes will start again on Saturday, February 15, 2020 courtesy of Vancity <3
- We LOVE our volunteers! In this newsletter, meet Repair Cafe volunteer Hannah!
- As always, don’t miss all the amazing events & activities happening in our community, including LOTS of Winter Craft fairs at local Elementary Schools!! #shoplocal #supportourschools!!
Subscribe to our monthly newsletters & get all our recycling updates, news, and tips emailed straight to your inbox! You can unsubscribe at any time.
As you may have heard, one of our trucks caught fire while it was parked in a parking lot during a driver’s break. Thankfully, no one was injured, but the truck is not able to be repaired. We appreciate your understanding and patience as we head toward the busy holiday season.
-Ridge Meadows Recycling Society
November 12, 2019
In this newsletter…
- Shorter days means shorter hours at the Depot…
- Fall Brush Chipping Program Set-out dates and info…
- Want to help plan Earth Day 2020? Get Active & drop by one of our meetings!
- Our next Repair Cafe is on Saturday, September 21 – and we couldn’t do it without our awesome volunteers!
- Green Drinks! Join your fellow greenies Sept.24 at Big Smoke…
- Check out one of 100 Debates on the Environment on October 1 and learn where your federal candidates stand…
- As always, don’t miss all the amazing events & activities happening in our community!
Subscribe to our monthly newsletters & get all our recycling updates, news, and tips emailed straight to your inbox! You can unsubscribe at any time.
