Posted by: Sandy Garland
I’ve been wanting to start a regular column about garbage for a while now. But I can’t seem to get started because there’s so much to say. So, I’m just going to blurt out a bunch of stuff and hope that we can make sense of some of it.
Can we achieve zero waste in Old Ottawa South?
At one point, Ingrid was taking photos of “good stuff” put out for garbage pickup. She’d post the photo on Facebook along with the nearest intersection. I responded to one of her posts of a pile of plastic flower pots. As I was putting the pots in my car, a couple came by and picked up some pieces of wood. Across the street, a truck with a trailer stopped to load it with larger pieces of wood.
Norah has a walking group on Wednesday mornings. She picks up egg cartons out of black bins. Why? Can’t they go into regular paper recycling? Yes, but if we take them to Earthub, they get used by farmers and food banks, before they go into recycling – longer life for the item, less additional use of resources.
You may have noticed that Chris in the Glebe is collecting metal of all kinds. This is growing in leaps and bounds. We’re hoping to have him participate in the OOS spring collection on Earth Day with help from my neighbour who has a trailer.
You may also know that a tennis pro in our neighbourhood collects tennis balls. Once he has enough, he ships them to a company that turns them into material like the flexible “ground” under the playground equipment at Brewer Park.
These people are all creating circular economies, but they could use some help and support. Ideally, everything we don’t need – garbage – should be turned into something useful or, at the very least, something not harmful. The City of Ottawa’s waste management team also has a Take It Back program that they are looking to expand as opportunities arise.
So, in 2025, when you are about to toss something into any of your bins, please take a moment to think about where it will go from there. Is there a better way to use it, redirect it?
I want to continue talking trash – as a regular column here. If you have thoughts about any aspect of garbage, I would love to hear from you. You can reach me through the Enviro Crew at: envirocrewoos@gmail.com
The Enviro Crew has compiled a list of the closest locations that will take various trash items to reuse, recycle, etc. Use it frequently, and please add to it. If you see a collection bin, please take a photo and send it to me so we can add to our master list: (https://tinyurl.com/3ycp5xjn).
We are in the process of compiling a list of things to collect on Earth Day (Saturday, 22 April 2025). The purpose of these twice-yearly collections is to make it easy for you to bring all your recyclables to one place. The items we collect vary, depending on whether we can pick them up (you’d be surprised how heavy a bucket of batteries can be), put them in a car, and find a destination nearby where we know they’ll be recycled or reused. Please tell us about such opportunities.
TRASH TIPS
Borrow, don’t buy
A Canadian company called Lend-It allows you to borrow or rent things you need for a short time. You can also use this platform to rent out things you’re not using – like the telescope in their example. To find out more, visit the web site or Facebook page: lend-it.ca
Earthub bins
Earthub is a local organization that is passionate about reducing waste. They are currently conducting a pilot project that involves finding companies or organizations that are using waste material in creative ways. If you sign up for the program, you’ll get a bin and a list of collectables, which include a wide range of single-use plastics as well as their usual list and now electronics! Earthub picks up your bin every second week. Details here: www.earthub.ca/collections
Easy and free
Drop off milk bags, egg cartons, bread bags in the bin on my front porch – 90 Aylmer Avenue. BTW: you can leave the little plastic bread and milk tags too. Earthub has a use for them.
Sandy Garland is a longtime resident of Old Ottawa South and a member of the Enviro Crew of OOS.
Featured in the February 2025 OSCAR.