Green initiatives in Delta
When it comes to going green in our consumer society, it's usually as simple as becoming more environmentally conscious about your choices.
That means buying locally produced materials and recycling packaging and consumer products that have reach the end of their lifespan. The week of Oct. 15-21 is Waste Reduction Week in Canada.
There are a number of ways to reduce your impact to the environment by being aware of the recycling opportunities available to you. A great place to start is by visiting www.rcbc.bc.ca to find out where your local recycling depots are located.
Electronic waste
FCM Recycling has opened a new 50,000-square-foot recycling plant is opening on Annacis Island to accept electronic waste for homes and business.
The average life span of today's computers is less than 3 years, meaning so-called e-waste has become one of the fastest growing sources of garbage in North America.
What happens to electronics that have reached the end of their useful life? Unfortunately, the majority ends up in landfills all over the world, and often in developing countries where they contaminate and create health problems for people living there.
Computer parts can contain harmful metals when exposed, such as lead and mercury, which do not decompose, and can leach into the soil and water, posing a threat to both the environment and our health.
Light recycling
What do you do with those burned out light bulbs and tubes when they stop working?
Starting Oct. 1, recycling facilities across the province began accepting all lighting products without charge through the LightRecycle non-profit program.
LightRecycle has accepted residential-use fluorescent lights at collection sites across the province since 2010, but has now expanded to accept any lighting product— including fluorescent tubes, compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), halogen and incandescent bulbs, light emitting diodes (LEDs) and high intensity discharge lamps (HID).
You can also recycle ballasts, light fixtures, floor lamps, chandeliers, table lamps, ceiling lights, Christmas lights, and even flashlights.
The expanded LightRecycle program ensures recyclable materials such as metal, glass and plastic in lighting products are recycled into new products. Some lighting products contain hazardous materials like mercury, which are kept out of the environment by recycling.
Recycling plastic, glass and metal through LightRecycle also has significant energy savings. It takes 95 per cent less energy to recycle aluminum than to manufacture it from raw materials, 74 per cent less energy to recycle steel, and 30 per cent less energy to recycle glass.
Old toys
You can add recycling old and broken electronic toys to your environmental action list. Check around your home to see what old or broken electronic toys may be lurking in closets or play rooms.
Lots of toys are still fun to play with even when the sirens don’t work or the lights don’t flash, but if it’s time to toss them, remember to recycle.
Accepted toys include plush textiles with electronics, metal or hard plastic toys with electronics, remote control vehicles, ride on vehicles, and hand held game devices.
Each electronic toy will be manually dismantled and each of the materials will be sorted and reused in various manufacturing processes.
•For any questions about recycling, call the Recycling Hotline at 604-732-9253.
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