As the festive season winds down in Vancouver, residents are left with the annual challenge of dealing with mountains of holiday waste. To provide clear guidance, Ann Goulding from Recycle BC recently appeared on Your Morning Vancouver, sharing crucial tips to ensure wrapping paper, packaging, and decorations are disposed of correctly.
Navigating the Post-Holiday Recycling Maze
Goulding emphasized that a little knowledge can prevent common recycling mistakes that contaminate entire bins. The key is knowing which materials belong in which stream. Wrapping paper is a major point of confusion. Shiny, metallic, or glitter-covered paper cannot be recycled and must go in the garbage. Only plain paper wrapping can be placed in your paper recycling.
When it comes to packaging, cardboard boxes should be flattened and placed in container recycling. However, polystyrene foam blocks and plastic air pillows, commonly found in shipping boxes, are not accepted in curbside recycling and should be taken to a depot or put in the trash. Goulding also addressed festive containers, noting that plastic clam-shell trays from store-bought treats are recyclable if rinsed, but their plastic lids often are not.
Handling Specialty Items and Food Waste
Christmas trees are a significant source of post-holiday organic waste. Goulding reminded viewers that natural trees should be stripped of all decorations, tinsel, and stands. Many municipalities, including Vancouver, offer specific curbside pickup days for trees, which are then chipped into mulch. Artificial trees, if beyond donation, must be disposed of as garbage.
Food waste is another major category. All uneaten food, soiled paper napkins, and wooden toothpicks from appetizers should go into the green bin for composting. Batteries from new toys and electronics pose a serious fire hazard if tossed in regular recycling or trash. Goulding stressed that these must be taken to a designated battery drop-off location, which can often be found at retailers or recycling depots.
Creating a Sustainable Start to the New Year
The overarching message from Recycle BC is that proper sorting is an act of environmental stewardship. Contaminating a recycling load with non-recyclables can result in the entire load being sent to the landfill. By taking a few extra minutes to separate materials correctly, Vancouverites can ensure that valuable resources like paper, cardboard, and certain plastics are given a new life.
Goulding's appearance serves as a timely reminder that the holidays don't have to be a burden on the city's waste management systems. With these practical tips, residents can responsibly manage their holiday waste, turning the post-Christmas cleanup into an opportunity to support Vancouver's sustainability goals and start the new year on a greener note.
