Recycling
Posted by Kevin Pepper on 2020 Jan 2nd
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening or good night depending on when you’re reading this week’s blog entry.
Today I want to talk about something that I feel needs to be talked about since we have talked about disposable diapers and boosters.
What I want to talk about is recycling; now you may be asking why are we talking about recycling on a diaper and ageplay related blog? Well......
In Toronto we have a pretty good recycling program and part of that program is the Green Bin Program.
Almost 50 per cent of household waste (by weight) is organic material. The City’s Green Bin program helps keep waste out of the landfill by collecting organic material and turning it into compost that can be used in gardens and parks. The City collects organics from approximately 460,000 houses, as well as apartment and condo buildings, schools and City-owned buildings.
Green Bin vs Blue Bin
The Green Bin and Blue Bin are both environmentally responsible waste removal solutions that reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfills. The Green Bin program is responsible for diverting biodegradable organic waste that can be composted, while the Blue Bin program is responsible for diverting recyclable materials, such as aluminum and glass. Together these two processes can divert the majority of waste created from going to the landfill.
The exact amount of organic and recyclable waste created will vary by household or business, but typically well over 50% of waste can either be composted or recycled.
The items that can be placed in the Green bin include:
Food Waste
- Fruits, vegetables
- Meat, poultry, fish products (including bones)
- Pasta, bread, cereals, rice
- Dairy products, eggs and shells
- Cake, cookies, candy, nuts
Other Items
- Animal waste, bedding, cat litter
- House plants, including soil
- Coffee grounds/filters, tea bags
- Sanitary products
- Soiled paper such as food packaging, ice cream containers, popcorn, flour and sugar bags
- Soiled tissues, napkins, paper towels (unless they have been used with chemicals/cleaning supplies)
And most importantly and the reason for this week’s blog:
Diapers
Yes you can put used diapers into your green bin, plastic-backed or cloth-backed, baby and adult diapers as well as boosters, wipes, Incontinence pads, Male guards and Panty Liners.
According to Wikipedia the following Canadian municipalities have implemented a Green Bin program:
- Dufferin County
- Durham Region, Ontario
- Guelph, Ontario
- Hamilton, Ontario
- Ottawa, Ontario
- Peel Region, Ontario
- Sudbury, Ontario
- Toronto, Ontario
- York Region, Ontario
- Richmond, British Columbia
- The Halifax Regional Municipality
Also according to Wikipedia Green Bin programs have been implemented in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
United Kingdom
Green Bin programs are now common in the UK. Green Bins have been rolled out over the past 10 years to reduce the quantities of biodegradable waste contained in the black bag in response to the Landfill Directive. Another common colour in the UK for garden waste collection is a brown bin.
Some councils collect food waste in a separate container for example, for anaerobic digestion or mixed with garden waste in the wheelie bin, where they go to an in vessel composter. In both cases a kitchen caddy, a 7-litre tub is provided by the council, with cornstarch liners and when full are emptied into a small curbside box or into the garden waste bin. In Fife, Scotland, the green bin is normal sized and used to collect tins and plastics.
United States
Some US cities have begun Green Bin programs under various names, including Seattle and San Francisco.
Some people even have their own composting bins that they use to compost their food waste and diapers. Growing up my family had a compost bin in the backyard and we would put used baby diapers into it as well as all the other things.
Do you have a green bin or composting program in your area?? I would love to hear from you if you do.
Otherwise I encourage you all to check with your city and see if you have a green bin or composting programs for recycling your disposable diapers.
Next week’s topic “What’s in your diaper bag?”
Sources for this week’s blog:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_bin
http://pandaenvironmental.com/Ontario-Green-Bin-Program-Overview.htm