Get to half

Reduce, reuse and recycle. A simple message that we hear everyday, but are you doing your part in helping the environment?

Reducing the amount of solid waste we produce, which is two kilograms per person each day according to the Multi-Materials Stewardship Board (MMSB), is easy and starts with a routine. Reducing the amount of garbage you put out to the curb doesn't take as much time as you may think.

Recycling in your home and workplace is a huge step in the right direction and will help protect the environment and conserve natural resources. Getting to half, cutting your weekly garbage down by 50 per cent, is simple when a household or business change their current habits and pay attention to what exactly they throw out each week.

If a business is throwing out bags of styrofoam cups after each use by their employees, why not encourage employees to bring their own mugs into the office?

Paper makes up 37 per cent of every household's garbage each week, so why not try to reuse paper by writing messages on both sides of an individual sheet of paper before throwing it into the garbage.

For those who have wood stoves and furnace's, getting your garbage to half is as easy as opening the stove door and placing burnable waste inside. Not only does this cut your household waste in half come garbage day, but it also helps heat your home.

Coming on stream with regional waste sites next year, many towns and their residents will see a significant change in their garbage pick-up. Now is the time to try our best to help our municipalities by reducing, reusing and recycling where possible.

Solid waste has always been a by-product of human activity, so as the source of the problem, we have a responsibility to become the solution.