Earth Day | 2022

EARTH DAY 2022

SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 2022 5

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Celebrating Earth Day by launching new service Mother Earth Recycling will start taking child car seats as of April 22, 2022. The plastic will be shredded and used to create new products. Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Location: 771 Main St. Recycling Fee: $15 Mother Earth Recycling is an Indigenous for-profit social enterprise. MER creates jobs and training opportunities for members of the urban Indigenous community who have per- sonal and systemic barriers to accessing meaningful work. For more information, visit motherearthrecycling.ca.

Its process involves separating the fabric, foam, metal and wood in mattresses and recy- cling them through different processors. In 2012, the company started as an e-waste recycling depot. Electronic waste recovery is a service they continue to provide. But in 2016, “MER expanded into mattress recycling,” Flo- resco notes. This year, they’re expanding again.

They will now offer a child car seat recycling pro- gram. Sustainable products and services are making a great deal of headway for the environment. If we continue to embrace them, the next time we go to a mattress, it’ll just be for a good night’s sleep!

(Image supplied by Polysleep Canada)

SPONSORED CONTENT Energy efficiency in the egg industry S andra and Eric Dyck are registered egg farmers, reducing their environmental footprint on 4-D Farms in Spring- stein, Manitoba. The Dyck family installed more than 500 feet of solar panels, which produce solar kilowatts that removal system, ensuring the hens are kept in a clean and healthy environment. “Most years, our panels produce enough power to carry us from April to October, depending on the sunshine. This past year our home was completely powered for 10 months of the year,” said Sandra.

work to power their farm and home. The decision to install the panels was made to decrease their farm’s carbon footprint and to offset electricity costs for their farming operation. Their family has been farming in Springstein for nearly 100 years, and Eric is a fourth-generation farmer and third-genera- tion egg farmer. The family has 4,800 laying hens in an enriched housing system, and the whole family, including their three chil- dren Jacob (13), Levi (11) and Rylee (9), helps pack eggs by hand each day. “Our laying hen barn is pretty efficient with energy consump- tion, and we have taken simple steps like installing LED lights throughout the barn to decrease our energy usage,” said Sandra. The solar panels produce electricity that powers the hens’ feed- ing system, ensuring that fresh food and water is always available. Energy gathered off the solar grid powers the fans, providing fresh air to the barn, and powers a conveyor belt system that col- lects eggs each morning, bringing them from the barn to the gath- ering and packing room. The solar panels also power the manure

The Dyck family sees the importance and benefit energy effi- ciency has brought to their diverse farming operation, which in- cludes hens, grain, crops and bees. Their solar panels help provide power to the hen barn, the aeration system of their grain bins and temperature-controlled bee storage. Regulated egg farmers like Sandra and Eric Dyck are making huge strides in greening the egg industry. In fact, the environmen- tal footprint of Canada’s egg production supply chain declined by almost 50 per cent between 1962 and 2012, while egg production increased by 50 per cent. In that timeframe, the Canadian egg in- dustry used 81 per cent less land, 41 per cent less energy and 69 per cent less water. The industry produced 61 per cent fewer emis- sions that contribute to acid rain, 68 per cent fewer emissions of nitrogen and phosphorus and 72 per cent fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Laying hens themselves have been doing their part, as their feed efficiency or ability to convert feed into a source of pro-

tein is remarkable. On average, for every 1.7 kilogram of feed, a hen produces one kilogram of high-protein eggs. The Dyck family is proud to provide Manitobans with nutri- tious, locally produced eggs. They look forward to egg farming with their family for many years to come.

Locally produced, nutritious, affordable The eggs available in Manitoba grocery stores are produced by local egg farmers like the Dyck family of Springstein, Manitoba.

Regulated egg farmers meet high standards in food safety and hen care.