We want a clean community that recycles and knows how to reduce waste!
Here are a few ways in which you can reduce the amount of waste you produce:
- Set your printer to print both sides of a sheet of paper and photocopiers to copy documents double-sided. Cut down on paper usage at the office too.
- Recycle junk mail into blue bags for curbside recycling pick-up.
- When shopping chose products with the least packaging. Packaging makes up 30% of municipal solid waste. Most packaging material can be recycled in the City’s curbside recycling program or by dropping off to the Transfer Station.
- Buy whole fruits and vegetables to avoid the unnecessary trays and wraps.
- Buy the large or economy size - this uses less packaging and saves you money.
- Reduce waste when you shop. Use a shopping bag or rucksack rather than plastic carrier bags and refuse carrier bags if you don’t need them.
- Reduce toxic chemicals in your home. Whenever possible, buy products that are free of toxic chemicals. Look for products that appear to disclose all their ingredients. The words caution, warning and danger indicate that the product's ingredients are harmful. Choose the least hazardous product to do the job.
- Store food in resealable containers rather than using cling film or foil.
- Pack a no-waste lunch for you and your children! Use a reusable lunch box or bag and fill it with your lunch in reusable containers. Include a cloth napkin instead of paper one.
- Use rechargeable batteries – this will help reduce your waste and save you money.
- You could be growing instead of throwing! Compost your garden waste and take advantage of our special deals on composters and compost at home – see our Composting section for more details.
- Take your difficult items to the Fort Saskatchewan Transfer Station for safe disposal.
“Trim” Your Holiday Waste
- Instead of wrapping gifts for the kids, hide the presents, plant clues to where they’re hidden and make the kids’ search into a treasure hunt.
- Instead of wrapping gifts for the kids, hide the presents, plant clues to where they’re hidden and make the kids’ search into a treasure hunt.
- Get the kids to make their own tree ornaments out of things you already have around the house, or from materials they might find in the backyard: twigs, bark, flowers and herbs, pine cones, etc.
- Tools and gadgets make a great idea box for a young inventor.
- Send e-greetings to family, friends and business associates who are on-line.
- Be creative. Instead of buying placemats or table decorations, make your own. Cut old cards into shapes and press between two pieces of clear contact paper.
- Or better yet, think of gifts that don’t have to be wrapped at all: tickets to concerts, museums, or sporting events, gift certificates, house plants, or even gifts of your own time.
- When giving oversized gifts like bicycles or CD racks, instead of wrapping them in paper, just tie a bow around them.
- Get a tree that can be planted or mulched afterward, or buy an artificial one.
- Compost your food waste. Fruits and vegetables and their peels, pits and seeds are all perfect for composting – a great natural fertilizer.