REAPS REPORT

REAPS News Web Pick Book of the Month Stream to Sea Bag Making Workshop

2

Local News

KidzArt Dayz Summerfest Survive Outside Domionion Day Canada Day

3

Around BC

Importance of Snow Vancouver GHG 2020 Need For Better Recycling

4

Around Canada

Corner Brook, NL Moose in Arctic Community Ocean’s Day

5

Around the World

Eggshell Disposable Plates Right to Repair (R2R) Supreme Court Supports R2R

6

The Boreal Herbal Pesticides vs Pest

7

Back Page

Dumpy’s Tip of the Month Recycle Craft Corner Membership Application

8

Hotline 250-561-7327 www.reaps.org Email newsletter@reaps.org

Recycl ing & Environmental Ac tion & Planning Society

COMING EVENTS

JULY

1 Canada Day in the Park

1 Dominion Day @ Huble

1 to 8 Heatwave FREE Music

5 Make a Bag @ REAPS

12 Make a Bag @ REAPS

7 & 8 KidzArt Dayz @ Gallery

8 Pride Parade

16 Downtown Summerfest

28 Survive Outside

AUGUST

5 Special Day

7 Civic Holiday

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

JULY 2017

Need 45 gallon barrels for making your own rainbarrel or

storing yard and garden items?

Contact us today for more information recycling@reaps.org or

250-561-7327

PAGE 2 REAPS REPORT HOTLINE 250 -561 -7327

REAPS NEWS Web Pick of the Month Book of the Month

https://www.plasticoceans.ca/

Plastic pollution is a global issue that impacts our ocean, our health and our wellbeing. Canada has the longest coastline in the world but several provinces without any ocean borders,

so we serve all aquatic environments around and within Canada and all the creatures touched by them. Through education, science and our film, we are working to solve a global problem with local actions to stem

the tide of plastic entering the ocean, before it is too late.

Wild Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest By: K Duane Sept

ISBN-13: 978-0878423590

This guide provides a list of edible plants in the Pacific Northwest,

including Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.

This list only contains "safe" plants - those that are easy to identify and have no deadly poisonous look-alikes. All plant parts described as being edible raw are also edible (and often more palatable) when

cooked.

Stream to Sea School Program

The Stream to Sea education program includes re-sources for all grade levels that will help students become aquatic stewards and active citizens that are interested in protecting their local watersheds through the rearing of Chinook Salmon in the class-

room.

After receiving a staggering amount of backlash from students, teachers, fisherman, residents and conser-vationists across B.C., the federal government has backed away from a series of proposed cuts that would’ve crippled salmon restoration programs in the province. MP Terry Beech, parliamentary secretary to the minister of fisheries and oceans, announced mid June that the government will reverse cuts to the

salmonid enhancement program.

Budget cuts made in late May would have affected the hands-on curriculum that teaches students to be stewards of wild salmon. In early June, DFO decided to delay its cuts for one year, but after Thursday, June 15, the federal government reversed the cuts

indefinitely.

REAPS has been delivering this program since 2008 and is excited to be continuing to deliver this program to 27 classes in the RDFFG and 6 schools

west of town.

Pledge to make plastic a thing of the past! Every July, over a million people around the world participate in Plastic Free July, a challenge to refuse single-use plastics for one whole month. Straws, plastic cutlery and water bottles are the worst. While water bottles are refundable - we have the best drinking water so save yourself money and use a refillable water bottle. Say NO to plastic straws and cutlery at fast foods - they will never breakdown and just contribute to the world of plastic litter.

PAGE 3 HOTLINE 250 -561 -7327 REAPS REPORT

LOCAL NEWS

Dominion Day @ Huble

This year marks Canada’s 150th birthday, and there’s no better way to celebrate than the old-fashioned way at our Dominion Day event! 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Find out how pioneers in Canada, and this region, would have marked the first of July by browsing our “Parades of Patriotism” display, then take part in pioneer games and races, contests, a special Canadian treasure hunt, crafts, and heritage demonstrations! Take part in our very own parade and afterwards enjoy a free piece of birthday cake, then kick back and enjoy local music! Huble Homestead is located 40km north of Prince George, just off Highway 97 on Mitchell Road. Admission is by dona-tion. They are dog friendly.

Canada Day in the Park

Prince George's major Canada Day celebration.

Come and join the Multicultural Heritage Society's annual party in Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park. Access the park from 17th or 20th Avenue off Queensway (toward the Fraser Riv-

er).

Opening ceremonies start at noon and include the serving of a 4'x8' birthday cake. The mainstage offers 7 hours of non-stop performances including a wide variety of culturally di-

verse entertainers.

Ethnic food concessions are on site and offer a taste of dishes from around the

world.

Children of all ages can have fun at the children's activity centre which offers vari-

ous crafts, activities and more.

The Canada 150 Birch Canoe will also be

presented.

DOWNTOWN SUMMERFEST - July 16th

Prince George's signature festival celebrating fun, food, entertainment and activities!

Summer is on it's way with fun for all ages! There will be lots of local food, live entertainment and activities for the kids at this year’s Downtown Summerfest. Join thousands of fun seekers who will gather at 6th and George Street in front of City Hall to participate in kids activities and the famous food pavilion! Step into the mystic tent of magic with Dr Von Houligan's Carnival of Calamaties or enjoy live music and entertainers performing on the main-

stage. You can also ride a train, play games, see the butterfly house and shop exhibitor alley.

This years event will be held on July 16th in the Veterans Plaza. Visit their website and stay tuned for this years activities.

July 29 7-9 p.m. Canfor Theatre UNBC BC AdventureSmart is excited to be presenting the ’Survive Outside Program’ at the University of Northern British Co-lumbia with the support of one of the local SAR groups Prince George Search & Rescue.

If you live in the Prince George area, love to hike, mountain bike, climb, camp, hunt, ATV or spend time in the mountains, then this FREE workshop is for you! Just RSVP through Eventbrite. There will be a panel discussion after the presentation with SAR volunteers from Prince George SAR, SAR prevention subject matter experts and a subject (person who's been

rescued) sharing her story.

Contact: Visit Website

SURVIVE OUTSIDE PROGRAM

PAGE 4 REAPS REPORT HOTLINE 250 -561 -7327

AROUND BC

There have been some recent changes to paper/cardboard markets that need all collectors (depots, curbside, and multi-family) to be extra diligent about the amount of contamination and cross contamination in

the recycling stream.

What has changed?

The majority of the paper/cardboard collected under the Recycle BC program is shipped to China and processed into new paper products. Recently, the Chinese government initiated a campaign enti-tled National Sword 2017, which aims to improve compliance with ap-plicable regulations and to prevent contaminated waste from entering

the country.

What this means:

The allowance for contamination and cross-contamination such as plastic and metal permitted in paper/cardboard bales being shipped from BC has decreased substantially. Entire shipments of pa-per/cardboard may be rejected if contamination rates are too high. What passed as “clean enough” in the past simply may no longer be accepted moving forward so we want to take pro-active steps to ensure our materials continues to be accepted. We all share a responsibility in

ensuring paper continues to be accepted by our recycling markets.

Why it’s important:

High levels of material contamination not only risks rejection at the port, it can also negatively impact equipment and safety at receiving facilities. During the sorting process for single-stream materials, where there is no sorting done at the household level, paper/cardboard is separated from other material such as plastic containers and metal containers using automated processing equipment. In addition to jam-ming machinery, plastic bags and other non-accepted types of film packaging can significantly impact this sorting process. Given their size, weight and general characteristics, plastic bags are often sorted into the paper/cardboard stream by the processing equipment if incor-rectly comingled in the recycling by residents. This can severely im-pact the quality of the paper/cardboard and could pose a significant

risk to the viability of existing recycling markets.

What happens next:

In efforts to improve the quality of our fibre products, Recycle BC will be increasing our communications with BC residents to ensure they understand the importance of keeping plastic bags out of curbside and multi-family materials. Collectors, in turn, are asked to be increasingly diligent about communicating with residents about the importance of not including plastic bags and, most importantly, continuing to actively

enforce this requirement at the curb and in multi-family buildings.

NEED FOR BETTER FIBRE RECYCLING SOURCE: RecycleBC

600 kilometres from the coast, in B.C.'s Interior an unique 3,000-year-old rain-forest is a living representation of the importance of snow to B.C.'s fresh water

future.

The ancient cedar stand near McBride, B.C. isn't really a rainforest at all, explains Darwyn Coxson, a professor in ecosystem science at the Univer-sity of Northern British Columbia. Rather, it's a "snow" forest. Unlike B.C.'s coastal rainforests on Haida Gwaii or Prince Rupert which are fed by constant rain, the trees in this stand only see about a third of the

amount of rain those forests do.

"Snow is what sustains it. The snow is what keeps it alive," he said. "As that melts it recharges the groundwater, and the places where the ancient cedars grow are right at the base of the mountain slopes." Climate

change could have a devastating impact on this forest.

At the same time, the summers have gotten wetter. Stephen Dery, a professor of environmental science and engineering at UNBC, says the summer rain doesn't make up for the lost snow. A lack of a snowpack goes beyond this tree stand, Dery says. Snow in this area feeds the Fra-ser River — the largest river basin in the province — spans 340,000 square kilometres and runs through some of the most densely

populated parts of the province, he explained.

With less snow and more rain in the winter, he said, flows to the Fraser River could be higher in the winter and lower in the warmer spring and summer. "Lower flows typically will mean warmer water tempera-tures, and warmer temperatures are not good for salmon ... so re-duced snowpacks will have a huge impact in terms of the ecosystem as

well." he said. TO READ MORE

VITAL IMPORTANCE OF SNOW TO BC’s

CLIMATE source: CBCNEWS

Metro Vancouver is unlikely to meet its ambitious greenhouse-gas reduction targets for 2020, according to its own analysis. The targets Metro Vancouver adopted in 2008 match those in the provincial Greenhouse Gas Reduction Tar-gets Act: reducing emissions from 2007 levels by 33 per cent and 80 per cent by 2020 and 2050, respectively. In 2007, Metro Vancouver emitted 16.4 million tonnes of greenhouse gases, with buildings and personal vehicles accounting for

65 per cent of the region’s emissions.

According to Metro Vancouver’s 2040 dashboard, which measures the region’s progress on its regional growth strategy goals — emissions were projected to be 14.9 million tonnes in 2015, a nine-per-cent reduction from 2007. Metro’s 2015 emissions inventory, which is conducted every five years, has not yet been final-

ized.

“On that projection, it’s unlikely that based on the current actions we’re undertak-ing we’d meet that 2020 target of 33 per cent,” said Roger Quan, Metro Vancou-ver’s director of air quality and climate change. “A lot of things would have to fall into place.” For now, Quan said, Metro Vancouver is looking toward the 2050

target of an 80-per-cent reduction.

Metro already has a number of initiatives underway to help reach that goal, in-cluding: encouraging residents to drive better and less; installing electric vehicle charging stations; regulating emissions from construction equipment; offering rebates for new wood stoves; and encouraging net-zero energy buildings that

are heated with renewable energy.

But, Quan conceded that there are areas where Metro Vancouver doesn’t have jurisdiction, such as rail, marine and aircraft emissions. He believes the 2050

target is achievable with significant action from all levels of government.

VANCOUVER’S 2020 GREEN HOUSE GAS GOAL LIKELY TO FALL SHORT SOURCE: VancouverSun

PAGE 5 REAPS REPORT HOTLINE 250 -561 -7327

AROUND CANADA

CORNER BROOK, NL PAYS FOR COFFEE CUP LITTER source: National Post

Beset by a plague of empty coffee cup litter, the Corner Brook, Newfoundland implemented a creative economic solution to the

problem: monetize the trash.

Throughout this past May, the city paid out five cents for every cardboard coffee cup collected. Redemption was then made May 27 in the parking lot of the city’s curling club. The city crews also hid four specially marked cups among the city’s litter. Those partic-

ular cups, when found, can be redeemed for $100 each.

The program, dubbed Cups for Ca$h, is similar to how many other Canadian jurisdictions have successfully cleared their streets of

empty cans and bottles.

By assigning a value to these items in the form of a deposit, it gives the public incentive to take more careful custody of their bev-erage containers — as well as deputizing a micro economy of chil-

dren and the homeless to collect them from the street.

Although, in this case of Corner Brook, there will be no deposit paid on card-board coffee cups. Instead, the five cent cup bounty is being paid by cor-

porate sponsors.

WESTERN ARCTIC COMMUNITY MARVELS AT MOOSE SIGHTING source: CBCNEWS

James Ruben Jr., of Paulatuk, N.W.T., had only seen moose on TV.

That was until earlier this week, when he heard from an elder about two

moose wading in the Arctic Ocean.

Paulatuk, N.W.T., population 300, sits on the shore of Darnley Bay, some 100 kilometres northeast of the tree line. On Monday, Ruben and other community members flocked to the water's edge, capturing rare images

of moose wading in the Arctic Ocean.

Moose typically live in the boreal forest feeding off leaves, twigs and stems from trees, depending on the season. They're also known to eat shrubs, including Arctic willows. Dennis Murray, a biology professor and Canada Research Chair at Trent University, isn't shocked to hear about

the sighting.

The N.W.T. Department of Environment and Natural Resources reports that since the 1900s, moose have been spotted several times on the tundra, including Bathurst Inlet and Coronation Gulf. One was even shot

on the east side of Victoria Island.

A department spokesperson explained the sighting coincides with the "northward migration of shrubs and other vegetation due to effects of climate

change."

OCEAN’S DAY - LARGE AMOUNT OF PLASTICS IN THE WORLD’S OCEANS source: CBCNEWS

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is asking people to be more aware of

the amount of plastic they use and throw away.

It's part of its Oceans Day campaign to raise awareness of what plastics can mean to marine life, including leatherback turtles, says Mireil-le Chiasson, DFO's manager for the

Oceans Division for the Gulf Region.

“It's an international day to make peo-ple think a little bit and think about our oceans and how important they are in

our lives," she said.

"The theme for the day was plastic so the issue surrounding plastic and environment, and in particular, in

our oceans right now."

Ocean currents

Chiasson said plastics travel with the ocean currents and end up in different areas. She adds there are areas on the planet where there

are dumps of plastic in the oceans. "They kind of concentrate in areas where the water is so thick with plastic that it would be difficult to swim

through." As the problem grows, more species are being affected as they eat the plas-tic, mistaking it for food. Plastic is now being found in some fish that people

are consuming.

It is estimated over eight million tons of

plastic end up in the oceans each year.

"Usually the culprits that we see the most often are plastic bags,"

she said, adding plastic bottles are a big problem as well.

PAGE 6 REAPS REPORT HOTLINE 250 -561 -7327

AROUND THE WORLD

Impression Products wanted to make toner a bit cheaper by refilling Lexmark printer cartridges. Lexmark of course hated that and sued. The fight dragged on for years, and made it all the way to the US Supreme Court. This week, the highest court in the land ruled against Lexmark. You may consider this an insignificant tussle over printer toner, but this important ruling clears the way for small businesses to fix your stuff—even without the

manufacturer's permission.

Lexmark sells two kinds of cartridges: an expensive, reusable model; and a less expensive, single-use one. The only mechanical difference? The cheap cartridge features a chip that disables the damn thing once you refill it. Lexmark also made consumers sign a "post-sale restriction" contract stipulating that only Lexmark could

collect, refill, and resell them.

Of course, people found a way around those constraints. Third-party companies collected cartridges and disabled the chip. Impression Products, a small, family-run office supply company in West Virginia, started selling refilled cartridges for less than Lexmark charged. Lexmark sued for patent infringement in 2013. Impressions CEO Eric Smith was baffled by the letters he received from Lexmark's attorneys. The way he saw it, his company

was simply selling refurbished printer cartridges, and Lexmark had no right to

control cartridges after selling them.

Why all the fuss? Because this wasn't really about printer toner. It was about your ownership rights, and whether a patent holder can dictate how you repair,

modify, or reuse something you've purchased.

The Supreme Court considered the principle of patent exhaustion. This idea stipulates that a patent owner's rights over a product should vanish once the patent owner sells the product to a consumer. By attaching a post-sale restriction to its single-use cartridge, Lexmark aimed to create a zombie patent that's never exhausted. You may

have bought that cartridge, but Lexmark still controls it.

The justices agreed 7-1 that Lexmark can't do that. The court held that Lexmark exhausted its patent rights when it sold its cartridges "regardless of any restrictions the

patentee purports to impose."

Most consumer watchdog organizations roundly praised the decision.

An Edinburgh Napier University student has created a range

of tableware made from upcycled eggshells.

Martina Zupan, a fourth-year product design student, de-signed and produced the prod-

uct called "Colleggtion".

The process to make the dis-posable circular plate with tearaway cutlery currently has a patent pending. The product is one of hundreds of exhibits

at Edinburgh Napier's More Than A Degree Show.

Martina believes her tableware could help highlight the op-

portunities that upcycling waste eggshells can bring.

Ms Zupan said: "The idea literally came to me one day as I was making scrambled eggs in the house and after some extensive research I found that despite eggshells carrying a range of beneficial components, very little was actually being

done to upcycle waste product.

"I tested eggshell powder in a range of formats - including adding it to muffins, into plaster for egg cups and even ce-ment and other resins but it was the tableware idea that real-

ly caught my imagination."

STUDENT CREATES DISPOSABLE PLATES FROM EGGSHELLS source: BBC

SUPREME COURT SUPPORTS RIGHT TO REPAIR source: Wired

APPLE FIGHTS “RIGHT TO REPAIR LAWS” source: ExtremeTech / Motherboard

Over the past few years, there’s been a burgeoning movement to guarantee the right of citizens to repair their own electronic devic-es, and a rise in corporate lobbying designed to defeat these initia-

tives.

The Fair Repair Act legislation would require Apple and other electronics manufacturers to sell repair parts to consumers and independent repair shops, and would require manufacturers to make diag-nostic and service manuals available to the public. Ap-ple, along with several other tech companies, is strongly

opposed.

Early this year Nebraska, Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts, Kansas and Wyoming introduced legislation. Followed by Illinois

and Tennessee who officially introduced similar bills.

Apple appears to have concerns regarding its intellectual property, as the act would require tech companies to freely share previously non-public information, even though the text of the proposal ex-plicitly states the following: “Nothing in the Fair Repair Act shall be construed to require an original equipment manufacturer to

divulge a trade secret.”

PAGE 7 REAPS REPORT HOTLINE 250 -561 -7327

The Boreal Herbal: Wild Food and Medicine Plants of the North is an indispensable guide to identifying and using northern

plants for food and medicine.

Whether you're hiking in remote areas or gardening in your back-yard, this easy-to-use handbook will help you recognize and use fifty-five common wild plants that have extraordinary healing

properties.

With The Boreal Herbal you will learn how to soothe pain with willow, staunch bleeding with yarrow, treat a urinary-tract infec-tion with bearberry, and create a delicate and uplifting skin

cream from sweetgrass.

Author Beverley Gray has also included dozens of healthy and delicious recipes, including Wild-Weed Spanakopita, Dandelion

Wine, and Cranberry-Mint Muffins.

THE BOREAL HERBAL - A guide to Harvesting, Preserving and Preparing

PESTICIDES VS PESTS

“Pesticide” is the general term for any sub-stance designed to eliminate undesired in-sects, weeds, rodents, fungi, bacteria and other organisms. Pesticides come in many forms and even include house- hold bleach and swimming pool chemicals. Pesticides

can be categorized as:

Insecticides (for insects)

Herbicides (for weeds)

Fungicides (for fungus diseases)

Although an individual lawn or garden may seem quite small, the combined effect of many lawns and gardens can have a signif-icant impact on your neighbourhood and beyond. Making responsible choices to ensure the health of your small “piece-of-the-pie” will not only benefit you and your

family but also the greater community.

“ Pests” - Most bugs in your yard aren't all bad – far from it. They pollinate plants, decom-pose waste material and prey on many of those pesky insects that you don't like. Com-mon yard and garden pests include ants, aphids, moths, cutworms, earwigs, slugs and tent caterpillars. Many insects, parasites and small animals are not pests, but were actually doing all the work in your yard long before you got there. These beneficial creatures include spiders, honeybees, ladybugs, frogs, snakes,

bats, mice and moles. Resist any initial “get-rid-of-it” response when you see things in your yard. Instead do some research and check

out Fact Sheets on Common Pests.

Why go pesticide free?

There may be risks associated with the use of

pesticides.

Product labels provide some information on these risks, which range from minor skin or eye irritation, to poisoning and death, depend-ing on the product and type of exposure.

Some pesticides can produce noxious and/or explosive gases if combined with other materi-als or mixed or applied using the wrong type of

container.

Some pesticides can pollute the soil or groundwater and can persist for long periods of time. If pesticides are unintentionally washed into stormwater collection systems, creeks, streams or other water bodies may

become polluted.

Some pesticides can cause accidental injury or death to aquatic organisms, birds, mam-mals and beneficial insects such as bees and butterflies. Microorganisms in your lawn and garden can also be harmed, reducing their ability to enrich the soil and provide nutrients for plants. The more toxic and the more you

use, the greater the risk.

Many communities across Canada are explor-ing ways to reduce pesticide use through alter-native methods. A large number of municipali-ties have bylaws limiting the application of pesticides for certain uses. Collectively, these initiatives reflect a movement toward a safer and more environmentally sensitive approach

to pest management.

PAGE 8 REAPS REPORT HOTLINE 250 -561 -7327

Recycling and Environmental Action

Planning Society (AKA REAPS)

The REAPS Report is published six times a year, on the first of

January, March, May, July, September, and November.

Articles, originals or reprinted with permission, are submitted by members and represent the opinions of the authors only, not necessarily those of the Society, Board, or members as a

whole.

Deadline for submission is two weeks prior to publication date. Articles, suggestions for articles, or comments in general are much appreciated, and can be submitted to the REAPS office via email at newsletter@reaps.org

If you no longer wish to receive our newslet-

ters via email please email REAPS and state

UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

Mailing address: PO Box 444, Prince George, BC V2L 4S6 Compost Garden and Office Location: 1950 Gorse Street

RECYCLI NG & ENVI RONM ENTAL ACTION & PLANNING SOCI ETY

Phone: 250-561-7327 Fax: 250-561-7324 E-mail: newsletter@reaps.org Website: www.reaps.org Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/REAPSPG

Email:

RECYCLE CRAFT CORNER

Dumpy’s Tip of the Month

Use old cans and paint to create this charming

wind chime.

You’ll likely be mowing the lawn a lot this summer, so don’t let that cut grass

end up in a landfill!

The EPA estimates that yard waste accounts for 18% of our landfills, which are quickly filling up and running out of

space.

Your grass clippings are organic mate-rial that can be reused to benefit the environment. Instead of bagging the grass as you mow, leave it on the lawn where it will return valuable nutrients to the lawn. If you’re worried about the look of cut grass on your lawn, add your clippings to a compost pile in-

stead.

Either way, your grasscycling will make a big impact on the environment and

help to reduce landfill burdens.