REAPS REPORT

REAPS News

Web Pick Book of the Month REAPS Prgm Changes ONLINE Presentations Rainbarrels Plant Sale

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Local News CleanUp PG Renewable Energy System DDBGS Plant Sale Shop, Eat, Enjoy Local

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Around BC

Fulfilling Business Pilot Project Tim’s Cups

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Around Canada

Plastic Bottle Caps to Wood Unwanted Clothes in Yukon

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Around the World

Pandemic Good for Environment Covid & Single Use Plastics

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Hellmann’s Mayonnaise Recycle More Buildings

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Back Page

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

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

Recycl ing & Environmental Ac tion & Planning Society

COMING EVENTS

MAY

23 REAPS Plant Sale

JUNE

7 DIY Non-Toxic Cleaners REAPS

7 Zero Waste Beginners REAPS

14 Recycling 101 REAPS

14 Composting 101 REAPS

14 DIY Produce Bag REAPS

24 Vermicomposting REAPS

JULY

1 Canada Day (on your own)

AUGUST

2-3 Homestead Days Huble

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

MAY 2020

Marking a special anniversary!

Paul Sanborn, Vice-President, REAPS

Twenty-five years! Can it be that long? How time flies

by!

This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of Terri McClymont joining REAPS as our full-time educator and coordinator. I still remember the day that Shelley Rennick and I interviewed Terri, and how impressed

we were with her energy and enthusiasm.

And we have come so far together over those years.

If my recollection isn’t too foggy, recycling opportuni-ties in Prince George were pretty minimal in the early ‘90s, consisting of a few drop-off bins for cardboard and newsprint. Few of us dared to dream that those items and more might some day be picked up from

the curbs in front of our homes.

Along the way, it’s remarkable to think of all that REAPS has accomplished through the collective ef-forts of our members, staff, and funders, with Terri as the magic “glue” to hold it all together, and drive our

work forward:

Thousands of students educated on the basics of waste management and recycling throughout our Regional District,

Dozens of businesses provided with waste au-dits and regular pickup of compostables,

Thousands of citizens exposed to practical train-ing in home composting and gardening,

Leadership in wider community initiatives, Providing a Prince George presence in waste

management and recycling policies and organizations at the provincial and national level,

Production of innumerable newsletters, training materials, and web content to support our educational programs

And much more!

Thanks, Terri, for your amazing service. You’ve help REAPS become a model for what a citizen-led non-profit can accomplish by finding and master-

ing its niche.

PAGE 2 REAPS REPORT HOTLINE 250 -561-7327

REAPS NEWS Web Pick of the Month Book of the Month

Planet Natural Research Center - Answers & Advice for Or-

ganic Gardeners https://www.planetnatural.com/

Whether you’re new to gardening or have been at it for some time, here you can search existing messages for answers to your questions or post a new message

for others to reply to.

"The Conscious Closet: The Revolutionary Guide to Looking Good

While Doing Good" By: Elizabeth L. Cline

ISBN-13: 978-1524744304

This book is not just a style guide. It is a call to action to transform one of the most polluting industries on earth--fashion--into a force for good. Readers will learn where our clothes are made and how they're made, before connecting to a global and impassioned com-

munity of stylish fashion revolutionaries.

Learning to move forward in Covid times and making adjustments has proven challenging and disappointing. REAPS has cancelled a number of fundraising events (loss of ~$6,000), contracts loss of ~$3,000), work-shops and changed the way school programs are being

delivered (moved to online).

This new way of social / physical distancing has given us the opportunity to think outside the box and learn

new tools.

For ongoing changes to our programing watch Face-Book for updates, email recycling@reaps.org or call

250-561-7327.

March 21 Annual General Meeting - TBA

April 22 Earth Day activities

April 26 Spring Clean Up BBQ

April 26 Spring Clean Up

May 2 Junk in Trunk

May 23 Plant Sale - schedule appt time all plants by

donation. garden@reaps.org to book spot

May - all workshops cancelled

May - all school presentations / field trips cancelled

REAPS Program Changes

REAPS Plant Sale - Sat. May 26th

We have a number of plants that need a home and have decided to host a physi-cal distancing sale by appointment only

and only 3 shoppers at a time.

We have perennials, herbs, shrubs and

vegetables.

It will be a suggested donation per plant -

$1 small, $2 medium and $3 - $5 for

large.

We will try a 1 day event to see how it goes from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. if we have leftover plants will schedule a second

date.

NO drop ins - shoppers by appointment

only.

To Book a time email events@reaps.org or call 250-561-7327

first come basis.

Thank you for supporting our fundraiser

differently this year.

ONLINE PRESENTATIONS

Terri has created a number of our programs as a slide show presenta-tion (with videos, animation and narration) with accompanying activity worksheets for teachers and students. If you are interested in receiving

please email recycling@reaps.org

REAPS FaceBook Page under Events - Recycling Activities and More for Children has a number of resources, activities, videos and more to

keep children busy.

Composting / Recycling / Vermicomposting workshops are been given through Zoom, Facetime, end of driveways and via phone / email. Terri is happy to assist and answer any questions you may have. Just give her a call 250-561-7327 or email terri@reaps.org to arrange appoint-

ment or chat.

RAINBARRELS

We have rain barrels! $80 cash,

cheque, e-transfer or PayPal.

It's a great way to conserve water and

it's free water for use in your landscape.

Please call to make appt to pick up from

our office.

PAGE 3 REAPS REPORT HOTLINE 250 -561-7327

LOCAL NEWS

The 2020 PLANT SALE is just a few weeks away.

This year’s sale will be very different due to COVID-19. We will be offering online shopping for the plants grown by our very dedicat-ed volunteers.

There will also be plant ma-terial for sale in our com-pound. More information will be made available as we finalize the details.

If you have any questions please email

communica-tions@ddbotgarden.bc.ca or www.ddbotgarden.bc.ca

DDBGS Plant Sale May 16th

CleanUp PG

With the postponement of the Annual City Wide Spring Clean Up due to Covid residents have been taking to the streets PITCHING

IN differently!

Normally, REAPS facilitates with bags / gloves / litter locations, tracks on a map, advertising, organizes thank you BBQ, offer priz-

es, and provides 9 bin locations for drop off.

A BIG thank you to all the individuals, groups and businesses that have taken upon themselves to continue to pick up litter in the

spring to beautify our community.

REAPS will provide bags and arrange pick up of large amounts of bags in 1 location from clean ups. If you just have 1 bag or 2 bags please stuff into your home garbage

bin for collection.

Call or email to arrange for bag pick up from REAPS.

250-561-7327

events@reaps.org

PG’s Downtown Renewable Energy System

The Downtown Renewable Energy System distributes heat from Lake-land Mills to nearly a dozen downtown buildings, including City Hall, the library, Two Rivers Gallery, the Four Seasons Pool, and the RCMP de-tachment on Victoria Street. Hot water that’s heated with wood chips and shavings at the mill is circulated through more than three kilometres

of underground pipes to provide the buildings with heat and hot water.

“There are only a handful of municipal district heating systems in Cana-da that primarily use a renewable fuel source and for Prince George to be able to operate at 100 per cent through such a cold period in January is certainly a positive achievement,” said Raymond Boulter, a national expert on community energy systems with Natural Resources Canada. “It shows that renewable, low-carbon heat is possible even in Canada’s

northern communities.”

In addition to providing heat to civic buildings, the Downtown Renewable Energy System also serves provincial buildings such as the courthouse and the Wood Innovation and Design Centre. Being connected to the city energy system has already saved the province of B.C. about $175,000 in carbon offsets and natural gas purchases. In addition, the Wood Innovation and Design Centre is producing 95 per cent fewer

greenhouse gas emissions than if it was heated with natural gas.

So many great options to shop and eat. From café, restaurants,

small businesses and farmers.

Check out their Facebook pages, reach out by phone or online.

Local businesses are owned and operated by your neighbors!

Supporting local businesses is good for the environment because

they often have a smaller carbon footprint than larger companies.

PAGE 4 REAPS REPORT HOTLINE 250 -561 -7327

AROUND BC

COQUITLAM SISTERS TURN ECO-ANXIETY INTO A FULL-FILLING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY source: Tricity News

Two sisters from Coquitlam are turning their own “eco-anxiety” into a business opportuni-

ty.

Lori Crump and Pam McEwin are preparing to launch Fulfill Shoppe, a zero-waste refill and delivery service for dry pantry goods such as pasta, chips and crackers, as well as cleaning supplies and beauty products.

The idea sprang from watching one too many documentaries on TV about the perils and consequences of climate change, Crump said. That led to a family conversa-tion about the steps they could take to cut down on their own use of single-use pack-aging that goes into recycling — or, worse, landfills — and comes with a carbon cost

both to be produced and reprocessed.

Crump said the effort to buy in bulk and re-

use containers didn’t prove as daunting as she’d initially feared, especially once she got

her kids on board.

And she knew she was having success when her trips to drag the recycling bin to the curb diminished. “Small changes can

make a big impact,” she said.

It was while sharing her experiences with other moms during school pick-ups and drop-offs that the idea for Fulfill Shoppe really took shape, Crump said. Essentially they’re fusing the old-time concept of home milk delivery with the modern convenience

of online shopping.

And to ensure their carbon impact stays as small as possible, the women are even us-ing an electric vehicle to make their twice-

weekly delivery runs throughout the Tri-

Cities.

Crump said it can be relatively easy to evolve changes in shopping for dry goods from bringing your own bags to the store to

eliminating waste from packaging altogether.

“You just have to get people to realize the changes they make are small, and they can be easy and convenient,” she said, adding bringing zero-emission home delivery into the equation makes it a no-brainer. “You

create your own momentum,” Crump said.

TO READ MORE

HOW A NEW PILOT PROJECT IN VANCOUVER HOPES TO SAVE 2.6 M COFFEE CUPS FROM THE LANDFILL source: The Globe and Mail

A B.C. recycler of beverage containers has launched a pilot project that hopes to find a way to recycle the millions of coffee cups that

end up in landfills every week.

Vancouverites are disposing of an estimated 2.6 million cups a week, however, many of those that are thrown into recycling are con-taminated with liquids, or have not been sepa-rated from their lid or sleeve – which causes problems in the recycling process and results

in them being sent to landfill.

The pilot project is aimed at commercial and public buildings, since the coated paper cups are already being recycled successfully

through the residential recycling program.

“They [cups] often come with contaminants when they are put in a bin, they have liquid, disposable sticks, tea bags,” said Allen Lang-don, president and chief executive of Return-It, the industry-owned not-for-profit agency that manages the recycling of beverage containers in the province. “Contamination is the main

challenge,” he said.

The initiative includes equipping five downtown Vancouver locations with customized bins that clearly explain how the cup, the lid and any leftover liquid should be discarded. The in-

structions are meant to be easy to follow.

“We thought if we can come up with a dedicat-ed sorting system we might be able to divert them from landfill,” Mr. Langdon said. “The struggle right now is there isn’t a consistent system for cups in commercial and public

buildings.”

Coffee cups can be collected and recycled through British Columbia’s residential recycling program. But more than half of hot and cold coffee cups that are discarded as garbage in Vancouver come from industrial, commercial and institutional sources. The project’s intent is to monitor and propose a recycling solution that diverts this material from heading to land-

fill.

Materials – including coffee cups, lids and

sleeves – gathered during the pilot will be used to determine if the fibres can be used to make

other products.

Currently, Mr. Langdon said, there are few local recycling companies that can separate the paper fibre from the plastic film in the cup,

but he said he expects that will change.

“Our interest is really in finding sustainable recycling solutions. We want to solve this prob-lem and that’s really our end goal,” Langdon said, adding that they will be publishing a re-

port of results at the end of the six-month pilot.

Return-It decided to focus particularly on cof-fee cups because it is an item of interest to governments and brand owners, Mr. Langdon

said.

Return-It has two prominent brands, Tim Hor-tons and A&W Canada, on board but is open to the possibility of working with other brands

that are willing to step forward.

PAGE 5 REAPS REPORT HOTLINE 250 -561 -7327

AROUND CANADA

A local group plans to give recycled plastic a new life by turning it into colourful boards that can be used to build things like lawn

furniture and fences.

In March, some members of the Nova Scotia Power Makerspace workshop met to discuss how they will manufacture the machines to shred plastic, melt it and push the resin into

moulds.

“I think the idea at the start is to use bottle caps, just shred bottle caps to begin with,” said Shawn Boutilier, a software developer

and electronic engineering technician, who was one of nine people at the meeting in the New Dawn Centre for Social Innovation in

Sydney.

“We’re just going to shred it up, heat it up, push it through an extruder and make plastic lumber, basically, something people can

build with.”

It’s one of more than 400 projects working under the Precious Plastic alternative global recycling system. Based in the Netherlands, the open-source project lets people down-

load for free the blueprints for building all the equipment needed to turn recycled plastic

into a wide range of new products.

TO READ MORE

CAPE BRETON INNOVATORS TURN PLASTIC BOTTLE CAPS INTO BUILDING MATERIALS source: The Chronicle Herald

YUKON BUYS BAILING MACHINE FOR UNWANTED CLOTHES source: CBC

They're baling up cotton in Whitehorse —

and also wool, polyester, and spandex.

It's a program aimed at diverting unwanted textiles from Yukon's landfills. A new baling machine helps recyclers pack up mountains

of material to ship south.

"We can put a lot more clothing on a truck in this form," said Nick O'Carroll with the Whitehorse Firefighters Charitable Society. His organization has teamed with Raven

Recycling on a clothing recycling program.

The baler — which compresses and binds massive piles of disposed clothes into tight-ly-packed, 500 kilogram bales — was much needed, O'Carroll said. The recycling pro-gram is dealing with a lot more clothing

than was anticipated.

"We needed a better system. We needed a system that wasn't so taxing on [Raven Re-

cycling] staff," O'Carroll said.

The firefighters' society installed big red bins at Raven Recycling three years ago. At the time, Whitehorse had no thrift store, and the local landfill's "free store" had also been

closed.

"We found we became a pressure-release

valve," O'Carroll said.

According to John Streicker, Yukon's minis-ter of community services, a lot of reusable textiles were also ending up at the dump —about 90,000 to 130,000 kilograms of materi-

al each year, he said.

"They're a real problem," Streicker said.

"Several secondhand stores and local churches had to stop accepting clothing do-nations, because of the oversupply. It's really

too much."

Money for the new baler came from the terri-torial government's Community Development Fund. Streicker said it will help divert material

from Yukon's landfills.

"I think this is a terrific thing," he said. The baled-up textiles are sold to buyers in southern Canada, O'Carroll says. Those buyers sort through the material and

find ways to re-use it.

"For example, some of the den-im will go into insulation. Some of the other clothing will be scrapped up into what's called industrial rags. And then they also go through looking for very usable clothing that they can then put into secondhand cloth-

ing stores," O'Carroll said.

He believes the clothing recycling program has also helped Whitehorse's newer volun-

teer-run thrift store stay in operation.

"We believe that a lot of that has to do with the fact that they didn't get overburdened

with waste textile material," he said.

PAGE 6 REAPS REPORT HOTLINE 250-561 -7327

AROUND THE WORLD

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths across the world. It has also abruptly changed the way people live, work, and socialize. But amid

these unwanted effects are pockets of light.

The environment, in particular, has benefited from strict social distancing rules. Just weeks after cities like Venice, New York, and Wu-han established lockdowns, citizens reported

better water and air quality.

It’s too early to tell if these changes will last. In fact, some experts say that the environ-ment could suffer once quarantine measures are lifted and industries work double-time to make up for what they lost. Still, the improve-ments we see now can act as a preview of

what a greener world looks like.

In China, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) lev-els dropped by as much as 30 percent after lockdowns started in late January, when fac-tories were shut down and land travel de-

creased. Cars and big industrial operations

are two major contributors to NO2 emissions.

Due to wide-spread travel restrictions, air travel dropped by over half in late March, according to The Guardian. This was margin-

ally good news for global carbon dioxide emissions, which usually accounts for 2.5

percent of global carbon dioxide emissions.

Now, even cities with some of the worst traf-fic in the world, from Los Angeles to Manila, are ghost towns with nearly empty highways. Less waiting in jams, less carbon monoxide from car exhaust, and better air quality for

all.

Rapid urbanization has pushed wildlife to survive in fragmented pieces of land. With the humans trapped indoors, animals have less threat of being disturbed or in danger of harm. Some animals are beginning to ven-ture out, feeling more at ease to explore their

urbanized habitats.

In France, this means more singing birds in cities. Since there are fewer cars on the road, there will also be less roadkill. But ex-perts say this likely won’t last after lock-

downs are eased.

How Good the Pandemic Has Been for the Environment source: VICE

AS COVID SPREADS SO DOES SINGLE USE PLASTICS. Source: VICE

As oil prices rapidly drop, recycling centres remain shut and plastic personal protective equipment becomes biohazard waste, the pandemic could worsen the already serious

plastic pollution problem.

The highly contagious COVID-19 has left our society and its socioeconomic systems in the lurch. Even as citizens celebrate the idea of animals reclaiming the streets that were once theirs and a reduced carbon footprint thanks to travel bans and lockdowns, the coronavirus crisis could harm our environ-ment in another, easily overlooked way: by

normalizing the use of single-use plastics.

A pre-coronavirus world was waging a war against single-use plastics. Big companies were called out for being major plastic pollut-ersas many countries across the world be-gan banning or at least considering a ban on single-use plastics. As microplastics settled

in ocean waters, obstructing marine life and even our diets, the threat that plastic posed finally sunk in. The narrative wasn’t entirely against the lightweight and long-lasting material itself, but instead focused on the fact that it wasn’t being properly recycled

and disposed of.

The threat of coronavirus and the risk its in-fectious nature poses have brought back plastic like never before. Whether it's for es-sential equipment like sanitizers, face masks, latex gloves, syringes, or even the disposa-ble packaging that restaurants are relying on to reduce the risk of spreading the virus through home deliveries, the pandemic has catapulted the consumption of plastic. To be practical, the unpredictability of the virus de-mands it. You can’t blame someone for pre-ferring a plastic bag they can use once and throw away over a reusable cloth bag, or using gloves to wipe off the food they’re buy-ing and then disposing these gloves after a

single use, when sustainability comes with a side of serious health concerns. Which is why, various nations including the US and UK have had no choice but to reverse guide-lines that limit or prevent the production of plastic and instead give consumers an all-access pass to single-use plastics. Asia is seeing a similar penetration of single-use plastics in its society, and as the efforts to fight coronavirus are ramped up, so is the demand for personal protective equipment

made from plastic.

TO READ MORE

PAGE 7 REAPS REPORT HOTLINE 250 -561 -7327

HELLMANN’S MAYONNAISE JARS MADE FROM 100%

RECYCLED PLASTIC HIT SHELVES source: The Star

Your mayonnaise is going green.

Don’t worry, there’s no need to check the expiration date. Hellmann’s, the biggest mayonnaise brand in the country, is ditching single use “virgin” plastic as part of its parent company’s global environ-

mental efforts.

We spoke to Gary Wade, the president of Unilever Canada — the Dutch-run con-sumer products giant that controls the

Hellmann’s brand — about the decision to use recycled plastic, how the new Hell-mann’s jars are made, and whether or not the new jars are more costly to pro-

duce.

“All of our production is already 100 per cent. By mid-March, we anticipate all our product on the shelves will be 100 per cent recycled plastic packaging. This will be saving a million kilograms of virgin

plastic a year.

TO READ MORE

More than 35 billion tonnes of non-metallic minerals are extracted from the Earth every year. These materials mainly end up being used to build homes, schools, offices and hos-pitals. It’s a staggering amount of resources, and it’s only too likely to increase in the coming years as the global population continues to

grow.

Thankfully, the challenges of sustainable con-struction, industrial growth and the importance of resource efficiency are now clearly recog-nized by governments around the world and

are now at the forefront of strategy and policy.

A critical component of the UK government’s sustainability strategy concerns the way in which construction and demolition waste – CDW, as we call it in the trade – is managed. CDW comes from the construction of buildings, civil infrastructure and their demolition and is one of the heaviest waste streams generated in the world – 35 per cent of the world’s landfill is

made up of CDW.

The EU’s Waste Framework Directive, which aims to recycle 70 per cent of non-hazardous CDW by 2020, has encouraged the construc-tion industry to process and reuse materials more sustainably. This directive, which favours preventive measures – for example, reducing their use in the first place – as the best ap-proach to tackling waste, has been implement-ed in the UK since 2011. More specific to the construction industry, the Sustainable Con-struction Strategy also sets overall targets for

diverting CDW from landfill.

Policies worldwide recog-nise that the construction sector needs to take imme-diate action to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, tackle the cli-mate crisis and limit re-source depletion, with a focus on adopting a circular economy approach in con-struction to ensure the sus-tainable use of construction

materials.

Instead of simply knocking buildings down and sending the CDW to landfill, circular construc-tion would turn building components that are at the end of their service life into resources for

others, minimising waste.

It would change economic logic because it replaces production with sufficiency: reuse what you can, recycle what cannot be reused, repair what is broken, and re-manufacture what cannot be repaired. It will also help protect businesses against a shortage of resources and unstable prices, creating innovative busi-ness opportunities and efficient methods of

producing and consuming.

The mind-set of the industry needs to change towards the cleaner production of raw materials and better circular construction models. Tech-

nical issues – such as price, legal barriers and regulations – that stand in the way of the solu-tions being rolled out more widely must also be

overcome through innovation.

Materials scientists, for example, are currently investigating and developing products that use processed CDW for manufacturing building components – for example, by crushing up CDW and using it to make new building materi-

als.

Technical problems around the reuse of recy-cled materials should be solved through clever material formulations and detailed property investigations. For instance, the high water absorption rate in recycled aggregates causes durability problems in wall components. This is something that research must address. TO

READ MORE

HERE’S HOW WE CAN RECYCLE MORE BUILDINGS source: CityMetric

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 nec-

essarily 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 newsletters

via email please email REAPS and state UNSUB-

SCRIBE 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

PITCH IN - differently…

As our community moves through this pandemic take the time to check on seniors, neighbours and family to see if you can provide groceries, meal or assistance

with social distancing in mind.

Out for a stroll or walking the dog pick up some litter along the way and dispose of it in your garbage

can at home.

Learn a new skill, clean out the

cupboard or do some repairs.

Make an Insect Hotels to Attract Beneficial Insects

Beneficial insects support biodiversity, the founda-tion for the world's ecological balance. An insect ho-tel in your garden will attract these beneficial insects, offering them a space where they can propagate and hunker down for the winter.