May  total – 39,430 kg
        Newsprint – 1,838 kg
        Co-mingled* - 12,073 kg
        Office Paper – 2,738 kg
        Cardboard – 18,038 kg
        Glass – 4,092 kg
        Books -  651 kg
       

Total for 2016 – 174,605 kg
Total for 2015 (May)  – 174,708 kg
Difference - -103 kg
Batteries - 26 kg
 

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


Comments – This month was a bit of a shocker. The last two years, May has been our biggest month with 43 MT in 2014 and 47.8 MT in 2015. 39 MT this month is our biggest month yet, but so much less than last year that we are actually behind in total tonnage for the end of May! I think my dream of 500 MT in 2016 just died. 

The amount of co-mingled materials which is mostly from households was the same as last year. The drop was 3 MT in corrugated cardboard, 3 MT in office paper and 1.5 MT in newspaper. The cardboard and office paper would indicate that it has been a slower month for businesses and institutions which is what I have been hearing from other sources. 

Originally published June 15/16   The Reminder. Flin Flon, Mb. Sponsored by North of 53 Consumers Coop.

The Flin Flon Recycling Centre is operated by a non-profit corporation, the Flin Flon & District Environment Council, Inc. As a non-profit its goal is to recycle as much as possible, not make money.

The Recycling Centre still needs enough money to operate. Funding comes from several places including donations and fundraising.

There are two fundraising events Trout Festival weekend.

The Cabar-eh on July 1 is an evening of excellent music with Brent Parkin, a Juno Award winning performer and his All Star Band. They play a variety of blues and swing. There will be a dance floor.

The event is arranged and hosted by Greg East and Jan Modler and is always a good time.
Tables of eight are available for $200.00. Call Greg at 204 687 0754 to reserve a table or for more information.  

The second event is part of the paddling tradition of this community. Two Voyageur Canoes from the epic 1967 canoe trip to Expo 67 in Montreal are in the water at Ross Lake by Stittco for the Voyageur Canoe races.

Teams of 10 race around a course set in the lake. Each race is between five and ten minutes. Teams are timed and the fastest team wins bragging rights.

The entry fee is $100.00 per team. Last year several teams were sponsored by local businesses that didn’t have paddlers. The paddlers volunteered from the crowd.

Paddles and life jackets are provided.

To register a team call Greg at 204 687 0754. If you want to participate and do not have a team, come to the Stittco Parking lot at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday July 2. There will be a paddle for you.  

Originally published June 8, 2016   The Reminder. Flin Flon, Mb. Sponsored by North of 53 Consumers Coop.

You may have noticed the new dual recycling/ garbage bins on Flin Flon Main Street. When I last counted four were in place. There will be eight more.

I like to think of garbage and recycling bins as fraternal twins. Both collect leftovers or waste. One sends non-recyclable items to the landfill. The other sends recyclable items on to a second life.

If I had my way, all waste bins whether garbage or recycling would have its twin next to it. It gives people the opportunity to choose the right destination for what they need to get rid of.

A waste audit of the contents of the recycling and garbage bins on Flin Flon Main Street and in the parks was done in 2014.

At that time 55% of the materials in the recycling bins on Main St. and 59% in the park recycling bins was garbage. Five percent of the garbage on Main St and 18% of park garbage was recyclable.

The bins on Main Street stood alone. In the parks, they were alone or their twin was not very close by.

The new bins are in place because of a project coordinated by the Recycling Centre. The Recycle Everywhere program contributed the recycling side of the bin, the logos and the shipping. The Flin Flon Neighbourhood Revitalization Corporation and the City of Flin Flon provided the funding for the other half of ten bins.  Reliance Services and another local business sponsored one bin each.

There will be twelve locations with the choice to recycle or garbage your leftovers on Main Street when the project is complete.

The old bins will placed with their twin in the parks.

Originally published June 1/16  The Reminder. Flin Flon, Mb. Sponsored by North of 53 Consumers Coop.

The idea of banning plastic shopping bags came up recently at a Flin Flon City Council meeting. Thompson and The Pas have banned them. Should we?

In the past, I didn’t think it was necessary. I like using them for garbage catchers.  They are very convenient for a variety of things. I thought people just need to be responsible and put them in the garbage.

Then I visited the Flin Flon landfill. Bags are everywhere. There are pictures on our Flin Flon Recycling Facebook page.

The landfill attendants report that within 15 minutes of the garbage truck dumping garbage, birds have ripped open the black bags releasing shopping bags into the wind.

So making sure they get to the landfill will not solve the problem.  

What is the big deal if there are lots of bags around the landfill? It is a landfill after all.

The landfill is connected to the rest of the world. Plastic bags cause serious problems for wildlife. Landfill attendants regularly rescue birds caught in plastic bags.

Wind and runoff carry bags into the forests, streams and oceans. They cause serious problems for wildlife. Plastic pieces in the ocean outnumber sea life by 6:1.

The phrase ‘plastic is a substance the earth cannot digest’ describes the problem. Once oil is made into plastic, it will be plastic forever.  It may break down into very small bits, but it will always be plastic.

Recycling keeps plastic out of the environment and makes it useful again. Recycling plastic shopping bags is very difficult.

Reducing and reusing is always better. Reusable shopping bags are a simple easy way to reduce the plastic getting into the environment.

Let’s do it. 

Originally published  May 25/16  The Reminder. Flin Flon, Mb. Sponsored by North of 53 Consumers Coop.

1. Which town has weekly free curbside pickup?

2. What are the three R’s for helping the environment?

3. What items is the Recycling Centre taking for proper disposal because they are hazardous waste?

4. Which items need to be in a separate bag or containers for recycling?

5. What is the name of the facebook page for the local recycling program?

6. What items are recycled from local landfills?

7. Where does the largest percentage of revenue for the Recycling Centre come from?

8. Which town is having a referendum on recycling in October, 2016?

9. Who shares the building with the Recycling Centre at 9 Timber Lane?

10. Recycling one aluminium can saves enough electricity to run the average computer for ____ hours.

Answers
1. Creighton. In May 2014, the second day of the twice weekly garbage pickups was changed to recycling pickup.
2. Reduce, reuse, recycle, in that order.
3. Fluorescent bulbs from homes including CFL light bulbs and tubes, and paint.
4. Shredded paper and household batteries.
5. Flin Flon Recycling. The website is flinflonrecycling.org.
6. Used oil, car batteries and metal items can be recycled from local landfills. Tires are recycled from the Flin Flon landfill only. No tipping fee is charged at the Flin Flon landfill if these are the only items.
7. The City of Flin Flon and the Town of Creighton together contributed 27% of the revenue in 2015.
8. Denare Beach. More information is available from the Recycling Centre or by email at recycled@mymts.net.
9. Eecol Electric leases half of the building from the Flin Flon & District Environment Council, Inc. which operates the Recycling Centre.
10. Five.

Originally published May 18/16   The Reminder. Flin Flon, Mb. Sponsored by North of 53 Consumers Coop.

Spring is definitely here as leaves are appearing on the trees and the grass is turning green. The need for spring cleaning becomes evident as the snow disappears.

Several groups and individuals have taken the time to clean up litter in public places as part of the spring housecleaning in our community. Some were delayed, but not deterred by the snow. 

It makes a difference.

Several areas in Creighton and Flin Flon have benefited from the efforts of community minded people. There are pictures and a list of those who helped on our facebook page. Just search for Flin Flon Recycling.

I have noticed that some areas there were cleaned are beginning to need attention again. An example is the roadway between Creighton and Flin Flon which the grads from Creighton High school cleaned up at the end of April.

People are careless in tossing their leftovers on the ground. Often items fly out of truck boxes traveling on the road.

Two ideas would go a long way to keeping our community clean and attractive.

The first and most obvious is for everyone to make sure their waste goes in a garbage or recycling bin.

The second idea is for individuals, families, community groups, and businesses to adopt an area as theirs to keep litter free. It would be like the Adopt-a- Highway program that has community group taking responsibility for keeping the ditches clean.

Every few weeks, those who have adopted a park, roadway, back lane, etc. would check their area, picking up any litter they may find. Group members could take turns.

A young man once asked why I picked up garbage. ‘It isn’t yours!” But it is my community!” 

Originally published May 11/16   The Reminder. Flin Flon, Mb. Sponsored by North of 53 Consumers Coop.

The Recycling Centre will be drawing for prizes for two events on Wednesday May 18.

1.  20 Minutes of Magic community cleanup is this Friday May 13. Any time before that day will also be fine. Register by calling 204 687 6169, or emailing recycled@mymts.net. Tell us which area you will be cleaning.

When you are finished, email a picture of the bags, or people in action. If you can’t send a picture, call and we will work something out.  We will post pictures on our facebook page unless you tell us you don’t want them posted.

We need the names of everyone who helps out for the draws for several gift cards. Thanks to Coop, Eddies, Victoria Inn, Home Hardware and Subway for donating prizes.

Anyone who has cleaned up litter can still register by calling 204 687 6169.

2. If you didn’t complete the Recycling Survey at the Leisure Show, you still can. It will be at the Coop from 1:30 – 4:00 Wednesday, May 11 and from 10 – 4 on Saturday, May 14.

Everyone completing the survey is entered into the draw for a Samsung Tablet or a $100.00 Coop gift card.

If you want a survey and can’t make it to the Coop, request one by email at recycled@mymts.net .You will need to get it back to the Recycling Centre by May 18.

The tablet was a prize at a recycling conference in Winnipeg last fall. It was donated by EPRA Manitoba, the organization that supports electronics recycling. One of our Board members won it. She didn’t need it so donated it to the cause.

Winners will be posted on our facebook page, Flin Flon Recycling. 

Update: The winner of the tablet is Linda Eryou.  Hillary Scully won the $100.00 gift card. Their prizes were presented by Barb Lyons, Vice Chairperson of the Environment Council, and original winner of the tablet. 

Thanks to all who participated. The information will be very helpful in promoting recycling in our community.

Results of the survey will be published in future columns.