Earth Day | 2022

EARTH DAY 2022

SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 2022 9

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“Start using old T-shirts as rags to replace paper towels, cloth diapers to replace disposable ones and put water and vinegar in a sprayer to use as glass cleaner,” she says. “You can even put a bidet in your bathroom to use in place of toilet paper. It uses less water than it takes to make toilet paper, which can also plug up sewer pipes.” There are other simple green-friendly initiatives that can easily be built into your lifestyle, notes Ans. “Buy laundry detergent in bulk or buy concentrated eco-friendly cleaner that you can combine with water in a spray bottle. And if your spray bottle is small, get a bigger one. Buy food in bulk, and get reusable containers to store it in.” Essentially, becoming greener is all about making the effort to change your buying patterns. “Once you get into stores and take a closer look, you realize how much is there. Even stores like Superstore and Safeway sell bulk goods,” she says. “You can also go to stores like the Bulk Barn, and local stores like Generation Green, Planet Pantry (at The Forks) and the Refill Market on Notre Dame Avenue.” Granted, it does take more time and effort to live a greener, more sustainable lifestyle, but it’s well worth it. “When you live green, you live a better life and you feel more connected,” says Ans. “We need to use our power as consumers to do better and advocate for more of what we want. When you do that as an individual, people take notice and start doing it. It’s all about everyone doing the little things to make a difference.”

Back in those days, diapers were made of cloth, rags were used to clean up household messes and a simple vinegar and water solution was used as glass cleaner. “ When you live green, you live a better life and you feel more connected. ”

– Colleen Ans, Green Action Centre, Winnipeg

Today — due to the convenience they offer — items like disposable diapers, paper towels, toilet paper and glass cleaners laced with alcohol ammonia, fluorinated hydrocarbons and polyethoxy ethanols are the norm.

The Recyclepedia makes recycling easy SPONSORED CONTENT

By Wendy King M anitobans are so enthusiastic about pitching in with residen- tial recycling that we boast one of the highest residential recov- ery rates in Canada. And now it’s even easier being green with the Recyclepedia, a customized-for-Manitoba web tool and mobile app that details what you can and can’t recycle along with where to recy- cle it. “The industry-funded not-for-prof- it Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba (MMSM) created the Recyclepedia as a way to answer questions on household recycling for Manitoba residents,” says Sarah Wallace, di- rector of marketing and communications. “Any business in Manitoba that puts packag- ing or printed paper into the residential waste stream pays fees on those materials, which covers up to 80 per cent of the financial sup- port for the province’s residential recycling programs through MMSM.” The Recyclepedia lists over 700 materials, but if it doesn’t cover what you’re looking for, users can suggest a material to be added to the app/site, which is updated every week. If your bin is overflowing or you have electronics, household hazardous waste, batteries or more, it can help you there, too. So, got a question for the Recyclepedia? Go to simplyrecycle.ca and select your communi-

Pack it loosely. If you put materials one in- side the other, it slows or stops the sorting pro- cess. Checking the Recyclepedia gets items to go where they belong, ensures a safe, clean work- space for material recovery facility staff and prevents damage to high-tech equipment. “It’s so easy to check the Recyclepedia to get the right material to the right place in the right way,” says Sarah Wallace. With almost 200,000 views of materials since March 2020, 83,000 user sessions and more than 7,000 app downloads, Manitobans are well on the way to making recycling with the Recyclepedia a well-informed habit.

HERE ARE A FEW TIPS: The Mobius Loop (numbered triangle) on plastics only indicates the type of plastic, not that it’s accepted in your recycling program. You still need to confirm with the Recyclepedia if the system can process it. Keep liquid and food waste out of the bins — they’re contaminants.

ty. Type in the material that you want to dis- pose of, like “plastic coffee pod” or “clamshell container.” The information you need pops up. And you can do this in 13 languages. “It’s a really useful tool that helps people make the right decisions with their packaging and it’s just going to continue to grow and get better as we go,” says Wallace.