I consider myself a conscientious consumer when it comes to purchasing anything. I have a passion for the environment and try to recycle anything and everything. I used to compost, take weekly trips to the local green bins to recycle the cardboard, paper and plastics.
That was then when I lived in a residential neighbourhood. Now, however, I live in the Beltline. Good luck finding recycling bins here.
My plan was to find an apartment as close to work as possible. That way, I could park my car (and not pay the unbearable price for a tank of gas) and do my small part to reduce my carbon footprint by walking instead. While I realized composting wouldn't be as easy in an apartment as it was in a house, I was still planning on recycling everything and anything I could.
In this day and age when being green is the new black, it's incredible just how difficult it is to find a place to recycle my cardboard, paper and bottles, not only in the Beltline, but in all of Calgary.
One might think it would be easier for people who want to do something as simple as recycle, that they wouldn't have to get in their car and travel a fair distance. According to this map, there are only 49 community recycling depot locations in Calgary. In a city of over a million, and almost 200 different communities, how does this seem possible? It's almost as if the city is working against every effort people are trying to make towards greening the city and helping the environment.
How practical is it for a person who may not have a vehicle to transport their recycling materials to one of these depots? Could you imagine someone getting on the bus with boxes full of recycling? No. People will either throw their collection in a large dumpster or simply throw it in their personal trash cans.
Stats from the City of Calgary say that Calgarians are currently recycling 20% of residential waste leaving the rest to reside in landfills. The city has said they hope to implement a curbside recycling program beginning in 2009. It's truly incredible to me that in this city which is considered the hub of the west, we are the last to have this. I might add that the curbside recycling is only for residential units, not condo or apartment complexes.
Edmonton really doesn't have many great things going for it but the one thing that they have really done, top notch, was initiate their curbside recycling program in 1988. While Calgary takes 80% of residential waste to the landfills, Edmonton diverts 60%, with the goal of 90% by 2012.
Calgary should take notes.
That was then when I lived in a residential neighbourhood. Now, however, I live in the Beltline. Good luck finding recycling bins here.
My plan was to find an apartment as close to work as possible. That way, I could park my car (and not pay the unbearable price for a tank of gas) and do my small part to reduce my carbon footprint by walking instead. While I realized composting wouldn't be as easy in an apartment as it was in a house, I was still planning on recycling everything and anything I could.
In this day and age when being green is the new black, it's incredible just how difficult it is to find a place to recycle my cardboard, paper and bottles, not only in the Beltline, but in all of Calgary.
One might think it would be easier for people who want to do something as simple as recycle, that they wouldn't have to get in their car and travel a fair distance. According to this map, there are only 49 community recycling depot locations in Calgary. In a city of over a million, and almost 200 different communities, how does this seem possible? It's almost as if the city is working against every effort people are trying to make towards greening the city and helping the environment.
How practical is it for a person who may not have a vehicle to transport their recycling materials to one of these depots? Could you imagine someone getting on the bus with boxes full of recycling? No. People will either throw their collection in a large dumpster or simply throw it in their personal trash cans.
Stats from the City of Calgary say that Calgarians are currently recycling 20% of residential waste leaving the rest to reside in landfills. The city has said they hope to implement a curbside recycling program beginning in 2009. It's truly incredible to me that in this city which is considered the hub of the west, we are the last to have this. I might add that the curbside recycling is only for residential units, not condo or apartment complexes.
Edmonton really doesn't have many great things going for it but the one thing that they have really done, top notch, was initiate their curbside recycling program in 1988. While Calgary takes 80% of residential waste to the landfills, Edmonton diverts 60%, with the goal of 90% by 2012.
Calgary should take notes.
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