Fort St. John is getting greener with Waste Reduction Week and recycling collection coming up

Between preparing the new recycling bins and an upcoming Waste Reduction Week from a partnership between NEAT and the PRRD, Fort St. John is flashing some green colour for October.

October 19th to 25th is Waste Reduction Week, aimed at eliminating or reducing the amount of waste in a household and bringing awareness to practices that accomplish this.

“For those of you that are worried about the volume of recycling and garbage you produce in your household, we have some tips to help you get started,” Tammy Hrab with NEAT wrote in a press release. “Whether you are just starting or you are a seasoned recycler, a waste assessment is always a good idea.”

So what is a waste assessment? NEAT outline’s the following steps:

1. Lay out a tarp and dump out your kitchen garbage can.
2. Sort all of the items into 3 groups; Food waste, recyclables, and garbage.
3. Once sorted, look at each group and decide if small changes can help make a difference.

To decide on small changes to reduce waste, NEAT says to ask yourself what you can change: Can it be composted? Can you reuse your waste? Is there a way to throw out less by changing your buying habits altogether?

NEAT has actively been tweeting out tips for reducing waste and recycling as residents get closer to recycling collection city-wide.

did you know that if it lights up, you can probably recycle it? lightrecycle.ca. #3Rs

— NEAT (@NEATfsj) October 1, 2015

It's not just the light bulbs you can recycle, it's the fixtures too. #3Rs @LightRecycle

— NEAT (@NEATfsj) October 5, 2015

Carefully recycle those CFL bulbs. There is some nasty stuff inside those little tubes. #3Rs

— NEAT (@NEATfsj) October 6, 2015

RETHINK – How can I reduce packaging? #3Rs #WasteReductionWeek

— NEAT (@NEATfsj) October 5, 2015

REFUSE – Do I need it? #3Rs #WasteReductionWeek

— NEAT (@NEATfsj) October 6, 2015

Speaking of recycling, the City of Fort St. John is reminding residents to take their blue bins back closer to their house and away from the end of their driveway.

This is because the bins can get in the way of garbage collection, which is still occurring on the regular schedule.

Recycling collection will begin the week of November 10th, so no garbage will be collected during that week.