Originally published  June 10/15 The Reminder. Flin Flon, Mb. Sponsored by North of 53 Consumers Coop.

The end of school is coming quickly. It is an exciting time for children. It also means there are lots of school things to clean up and put away.

When cleaning up after school remember that reusing is more important for the environment than recycling.  The most environmentally friendly thing families can do is save binders, pens, pencils, unused paper, etc. and reuse them next year.  

Kids are great recyclers, so the Recycling Centre receives more than usual from the schools at this time of year.  Most of it can be recycled. There are a variety of things that come to the Centre that cannot be recycled.

What can be recycled?

Loose leaf paper, white or coloured office paper (the paper used in photocopiers for worksheets etc.) is the most common item.  Notebooks can be recycled. Taking the covers off is helpful. Paper tang folders, file folders, paper dividers, books, beverage containers and boxes are recyclable. Poster board is recyclable if it doesn’t have other things stuck to it.

The following items are not recyclable: 3 ring binders, construction paper, laminated paper, art projects with different kinds of collage materials and anything plastic like report covers, tang folders, page protectors. Food wrappers, Kleenex, paper towels, plastic bags, things to write with like pencils, markers etc., pencil cases, and glue sticks are not recyclable.

Did you know that recycling one metric ton (tonne) of paper save 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, and 3.5 cubic metres of landfill space?

School children often lead families to recycle. That makes sense as recycling goes a long way to making sure we leave a good world for our children.

Originally published June 3/15 The Reminder. Flin Flon, Mb. Sponsored by North of 53 Consumers Coop.

Little bits of recycling information can be found in many places.  Here is a sample from links on the Green Manitoba website.
-          Seventy percent of ‘garbage’ from homes can be recycled or composted.
-          Recycled plastic is used in pillows, comforters, sleeping bags, scrub pads, grill covers and road bed and pond liners.
-          Recycling five 2 litre bottles makes enough polyester for a square yard of carpet. Two 2 litre bottles makes enough polyester fibre for a ball cap.
-          Thirty five percent of the world demand for aluminium is met with recycled materials.
-          Recycling one aluminium can saves 95% of the energy used to make a new one from raw ore.
-          Seventy-five percent of all aluminium produced since 1888 is still used today.
-          Recycled tires are made into blasting mats and a variety of other things.
-          Recycling one metric ton (tonne) of plastic bottles saved 3.8 barrels of oil.
-          Recycling one tonne of paper saves 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water and 3.5 cubic metres of landfill space.
-          One half a kilogram of newspaper can be recycled into six cereal boxes, six egg cartons or 2,000 sheets of writing paper.
-          Making steel from new iron ore can use 50 percent more water than making it from recycled steel.

More information and links are available at www.greenmanitoba.ca  under the recycling tab.  A-Z Recycling Guide includes information on some unusual items. The Industry stewardship programs section has links to a variety of programs.

Green Manitoba is a special operating agency of the Manitoba government dedicated to creating a cleaner and greener Manitoba. It provides programs and information related to waste reduction. 

Monthly total:  47,877 kg
    Newsprint -  3,371 kg
    *Co-mingled –  12,186 kg
    Office paper –  5,468 kg
    Cardboard –  21,323
    Glass –  4,749 kg
    Books –  780 kg

Total for 2015 –  174,708 Kg

Total for 2014 at the end of May –   167,880 kg

Batteries – 54 kg

*Co-mingled is unsorted materials sent to Winnipeg for sorting.

Comments - Forty-seven tonnes in May! 109 bales! This was an amazing month. I think a lot of people brought the recyclables they had collected all winter. Last year we had more than 40 tonnes in May, the only month all year that was that high. 

Our team was able to keep up with baling materials as they come in. 

We are seven tonnes ahead of last year. 

I am beginning to recognize there are cycles in this business.  Our January numbers are often high because a lot of materials brought in over the holiday season get baled in January. February is always slow with only 26.3 tonnes this year and 27.7 last year. November is slower too. And now I am seeing that May is busy.

It is all good. 

Originally published May 27/15 The Reminder. Flin Flon, Mb. Sponsored by North of 53 Consumers Coop.


The 20 Minutes of Magic Community Cleanup program was a resounding success.

The Northern Community Cleanup program is sponsored by the Canadian Beverage Containers Recycling Association (CBCRA) and Multi Material Stewardship Manitoba (MMSM). These are organizations sponsored by industry to subsidize recycling programs.

They provided shirts, gloves, bags, and prizes.  Acklands also donated some gloves.

In past years, Acklands- Grainger organized the clean-up calling it 20 Minutes of Magic. The Recycling Centre organized it this year. We liked the name so we kept it.

Many people helped out. The three schools in Flin Flon cleaned up in their areas. Other groups took on Sipple Hill, Phantom Lake Road, the  Creighton Freeway to Super K, Second Ave/Callinan area, Kingsway/ Creekside Park area, Hill St., Hapnot St., Church St., Main St., 5th Ave back lanes area.

Some people cleaned in their neighbourhoods without registering.

The work goes on as IAM has signed up to do the Perimeter this week.  The 2nd Annual Flinty Boardwalk Shoreline Clean-up is being organized for Saturday, June 13th.

The Recycling Centre staff picked up 277 kg of garbage and 32 kg of recyclables collected on Friday by those who had registered. Many people disposed of their own bags so these weights would be much larger.

The CBCRA and MMSM sponsored prizes. Two $100.00 grocery gift cards will be drawn for today. Flin Flon is in the draw from all the participating Northern communities for a $5,000.00 prize for a recycling project.  It will be drawn on July 17, 2015.

The Recycling Centre is planning another community cleanup in August. If you would like to help, contact Becky at 204 687 6169.

Thanks to everyone our community is looking great.