Go Bagless to Win!

The prize? A mulching mower or a $750 City Attractions and Recreation card. The City of Edmonton is encouraging residents to Go Bagless this summer - that is leave their clippings on their lawn and win. Going bagless has many benefits: It’s good for your lawn: the grass clippings protect the soil by keeping moisture in the ground. Also, as the clippings break down quickly, they naturally fertilize the lawn with nutrients after each mowing. It’s good for you: no bagging and dragging of grass is required, and it reduces the need to water and fertilize your lawn. It’s good for the environment: in the summer months, up to half of the waste collected by the City is grass. Going bagless is the easiest, most effective way to reduce waste. Half of Edmonton households already practice Going Bagless?try joining them! And by signing up for a lawn sign, you’ll have a chance to win great prizes, a mulching mower or a $750 City Attractions and Recreation card. For more information or to sign up for a Go Bagless lawn sign, visit edmonton.ca/GoBagless.

How to: Waste-less Holidays

The Holiday season is filled with decorations, parties and presents -- these can create a lot more waste, but it doesn't have to be that way!

The City of Edmonton wants residents to think about the environment at this time of year. We can all do our part to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible.  Let's make 2015 a Waste-Less Holiday.

Check out videos from Dave Claus and find out about the holiday collection schedule at edmonton.ca/wastelessholidays.

Got a favourite Waste-Less Holiday tip? Share them on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag #WasteLessHolidays.

Some Helpful Tips for Holiday Clean-Up:

• Recycle paper, cardboard, plastic and/or glass bottles and jars, and aluminium (cans and trays). These go in Blue Bags, Apartment Blue Bins, or brought to a Recycling Depot.
• Have cardboard boxes? Flatten and put them in your Blue Bag. Large flattened boxes should be placed neatly under your Blue Bag(s).
• Make your garbage light and sized right. Keep garbage bag/cans under 20kg (44lbs), and use the right type of can (maximum size 100 L, with fixed handles and no wheels). 
• Keep your collectors safe. Package and label sharp objects (like broken glass), and keep a clear path to your trash (especially in snowy/icy conditions).
• Take broken lights, electronics, and anything with a cord or battery to an Eco Station. 
• Styrofoam goes in your garbage.
• Recycle your tree. The City of Edmonton will collect natural Christmas trees starting on January 12, 2016. Trees will be picked up for recycling within three weeks of this date, but not necessarily on scheduled days for waste collection.

Movie Review by MCR Suzanne L.: Just Eat It

This food waste movie is the personal story of Jen and Grant, a couple who embark on a mission to see if they can live six months only eating food waste.

Their plan seems gross and impractical, at first. Shortly into the movie, they show you not only how possible this is, they also expose the fractured and wasteful nature of food production and distribution in North America.

This movie uses fascinating research, industry specialist interviews, and humour to highlight the fact that as a society, we take food for granted. At the conclusion of this movie, I had a new inspiration to use the food in my own fridge before it goes bad. I also gained new respect for the process that brought it to my kitchen.

Watch Just Eat It: A food waste story on demand (pay per view) - visit foodwastemovie.com

Watch the Trailer

Interview Clip, 2014 Edmonton International
Film Festival

MCR Suzanne L. completed the MCR Course in 1998. She is still passionate about reducing waste and stays involved with the MCR Program. Suzy and her husband once ran an experiment to measure all their household garbage throughout the year. Suzanne is also the author of Composting for Canada.

Have you watched a waste documentary lately?
Share your movie review. It's a great way to...

A Compost Tribute to Service & Sacrifice

In June, 2015, Edmontonians laid hundreds of flowers at police stations and memorials in honour of Constable Daniel Woodall. Following the funeral services, the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) searched for a respectful way to deal with these tributes.

So began a unique project of service, sacrifice, and compost.

Lorraine Cramer, Public Affairs Supervisor for EPS, explains that "Edmontonians offered a visible show of support for the Woodall family, leaving flowers as a mark of respect at police stations across the city. We thought that composting them and using that compost would be a special way to acknowledge these offerings."

EPS staff collected the mass of flowers and delivered it to the Compost 'S cool - a compost education site at John Janzen Nature Centre.

Sheridan Sigstad, Compost Educator for the City of Edmonton's Waste Management Services, helped mix the flowers with other organics in a designated compost bin and watered them. The bin was marked with a blue ribbon to fit with the Blue Ribbon Campaign.

"Throughout the summer, volunteers and visitors at Compost 'S cool saw our bin with the blue ribbon, and we explained its significance. Then we asked them to help by watering, fluffing, and contributing other greens. It was nice to see this process because hundreds of volunteers and visitors got to contribute to this memorial," said Sigstad. "I think they felt honoured to be part of this project."

The three bags of finished compost were presented to Sergeant Steve Sharpe at Police Headquarters in downtown Edmonton.
Presenting the special bags were Mark Stumpf-Allen, the City's Compost Programs Coordinator and volunteer Aurea S. - a Master Composter Recycler.

The Edmonton Police Service intends to use the finished compost as part of memorial services in the future.

Sgt. Steve Sharpe received the finished
compost at Police Headquarters.

See also: In Memory of Constable Daniel Woodall

A Special Compost Recipe

The bouquets were mostly stems and boughs. Extra materials was added to encourage quick decomposition over the summer.

Shredded leaves filled spaces and held moisture, while fresh greens like fruit peels and grass clippings fed the bacteria to get the process working.

Water helped the bacteria flourish, while fluffing added oxygen to keep the bin smelling like forest soil after rain.

How to Host a Wasteless Office Holiday Potluck

It's the middle of November. That means it's the time of the year for office holiday parties - and many of them will be potlucks.

With that, the inevitable waste will follow: paper cups, plastic utensils, disposable dollar store decorations, store-bought food in disposable plastic packaging, leftover Timbits, and more...

But with a bit of planning and these handy tips, your office party can be different!

• TIP 1: Ask someone to bring in cloth napkins, dishes, or cutlery from home.
  It's good for the environment, and someone will be happy to do that instead of cooking.

• TIP 2: Ask someone to bring holiday decorations from home.
  Avoid buying last minute decorations from the dollar store. Decorations borrowed from home will be much more beautiful, and nothing will be wasted!

• TIP 3: Ask someone to make punch in a large bowl.
  Avoid individual juice boxes or cans of pop. Iced tea or hot chai are other good options that can be made in large quantities, and served in carafes or pitchers, without creating waste.   

• TIP 4: Allow everyone to opt out of cooking for a small fee ($10).
  The person in charge can buy extra food if necessary. If there's money left over, it can be donated to a charity. Most of the time, there is too much food anyways!

• TIP 5: Ban store-bought contributions.
  Between Tips 1-4 and cooking something, everyone should be able to find a way to contribute without creating waste.

Do you have other tips for creating less waste at holiday parties? Share them in the comments!