Posted by: Sandy Garland
I just heard about a documentary called Plastic People. Yes, people. Apparently, we all have tiny bits of plastic inside us, not just in our digestive system, but also in our blood and in our brain. The latter have been linked to heart problems and Alzheimer’s, respectively.
Is that enough to make you stop buying plastic packages of things you don’t really need?
There’s hope. The United Nations Environment Programme has been working on an international agreement to end plastic pollution – since 2022. But how likely are countries to sign on to that in the near future?
Recycling is not working. According to some experts, good recycling programs can even encourage more buying. People think it’s okay to buy anything because it will be recycled or reused. But not enough plastics can be reused, and trying requires energy and sometimes toxic chemicals. For details, see the CBC Radio episode of The Current: Is recycling actually good for the environment?
Gatineau has tended to centralize its waste collection. Several “ecocentres” allow residents to drop off items any time at a single location. More recently, a province-wide system now asks people to put all containers, packaging material, and printed items into one bin. (The only exceptions are aerosol cans, polystyrene packaging, and compostable bags.) Bins are taken to a sorting centre where trash is divided into recyclable and reusable lots. Businesses pay but are also encouraged to reduce packaging.
The City of Ottawa seems to be against a centralized approach. Its newly revised Solid Waste Master Plan “outlines 50 actions to divert as much waste as possible from the landfill, recover resources and energy from the remaining garbage, and dispose of residual waste in an environmentally sustainable way, all while keeping services affordable.” One of its short-term objectives is to “develop a zero-waste culture across the City.” So, let’s do that.
What are you willing to do to solve the garbage problem?
Ross has a standing order for bread from Trillium Bakery in a paper bag.
Holly takes a big bag of containers to Bulk Barn and refills them with items from its bins.
Sue melts broken crayons and molds them into new ones for little hands.
I use bar shampoo to wash my hair and I make my own mouthwash.
OSEAN is collecting odd mitts found in snowbanks, lost-and-found boxes, back of closets. They’ll make new matches and give them a new life.
Northern Reflections asks if you need a bag. Say no, and put your new outfit into your own reusable bag.
Everyone must have a closet full of reusable bags by now. Make sure you use them instead of taking a new one by keeping some in your car, your bike basket, all your handbags, your coat pocket, your camera case.
Gardening season will be starting soon. At the annual Fletcher Wildlife Garden plant sale, our customers have no problem bringing a box when they pick up their order and transferring their plant pots into it, leaving our boxes to reuse. Do the same when you buy from a commercial nursery and leave the plastic tray to be used again.
The City has many tips and a list of places to take unwanted items that can still be used (Google “Ottawa keep it out of the landfill”). Or if you can’t figure out what to do with something, post it on Buy Nothing or ask on other social media. Earthub has a weekly “take-it-back thread” on its Facebook page. Your trash may be just what someone else has been looking for.
How the Enviro Crew is helping
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).
The Enviro Crew’s waste reduction group is meeting on Wednesday, March 5 to plan our spring collection event on Saturday, 26 April. Watch for a list of what we’ll be collecting on Facebook and in the next issue of OSCAR. We’ll also be talking about other initiatives to help us all reduce trash. Please join us. If you can’t come to the meeting, we still welcome your input and suggestions, including what YOU will do to achieve zero waste, email us at: envirocrewoos@gmail.com.
TRASH TIPS
If there’s a product you can only get in a plastic wrapper or container, buy the largest size to reduce the plastic-to-product ratio. Margarine, yoghurt, toilet paper.
Don’t accept or use plastic bags marked compostable. They are not really compostable and they can’t be treated as plastic either.
Refuse sales slips whenever possible. They contain carcinogens (Google “Environmental Defence the hidden cost of receipts”).
If you are discarding a plastic ring of any kind, please cut it to keep it from trapping a small creature.
Sandy Garland is a longtime resident of Old Ottawa South and a member of the Enviro Crew of OOS.
Featured in the March 2025 OSCAR.