UrbanWorkbench

Extreme Recycling in Vancouver

by Mike Thomas on July 25, 2007

in Environmental, Sustainability

 Necessity is the Mother of Invention…

A proponent of so-called “extreme recycling” said he hopes the prospect of growing piles of garbage in the heat of summer will spur more Vancouver people to reduce their household waste.

Raqib Brian Burke lives in the Quayside Village housing complex in North Vancouver, surrounded by lush gardens fed by the waste from the complex’s composting system.

Burke and his neighbours take the concept of recycling several steps beyond just putting out their blue box every week. Residents of the 19-unit apartment complex throw out so little trash they recently gave up the dumpster that used to be parked in the lane. All their trash fits into four household-size garbage bins.


‘Extreme recycling’ urged as way to cope with garbage strike

Vancouver will be hoping for a cool summer if this keeps up much longer…

It would be interesting to see how many people will have their daily habits changed permanently by the garbage strike. Will people recycle more, or will they take it for granted even more!

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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Eva July 31, 2007 at 3:31 pm

Here are 2 things you

Here are 2 things you might find interesting:

Blackle
http://www.blackle.com/ 

Blackle was created by Heap Media to remind us all of the need to take small steps in our everyday lives to save energy. Blackle searches are powered by Google Custom Search.

Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. “Image displayed is primarily a function of the user’s color settings and desktop graphics, as well as the color and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen.” Roberson et al, 2002

Living plastic free

http://plasticfree.blogspot.com/

2 Mike July 31, 2007 at 6:59 pm

Thanks Eva, I’d seen some Thanks Eva, I’d seen some discussion on Blackle, seems a bit funny when we write our documents and spreadsheets etc on a white background, but for a heavy user of Google, or even as a concept for discussion and thought, it’s a great idea.

Thanks for the plasticfree link, I’ll check it out. I’m trying to encourage reducing dependence on PVC in particular, as it is a major source of dioxins, and PVC plants are some of the dirtiest in the manufacturing game. You’ll notice that the plants are generally located in the poorest neighborhoods, makes you wonder….

3 dan nolin July 23, 2009 at 9:21 pm

This is a new product coming soon that is simple and promotes a 60/40% recovery rate. Check it out.

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