GC 2020
96 results found
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Waste to resource programs
Have the remaining 19 Vancouver Business Improvement Areas adopt the Strathcona Business Improvement Area’s recent waste-to-resource program throughout the city to find opportunities to convert waste from one business to a resource for another business.
6 votes -
Require all printers sold in the city to be uneasy to use so people are less likely to use them
If we mandated that all printers in the city must be non-user friendly, it would help prevent people from wasting paper!
2 votes -
Provide a second yard trimmings cart to residents at no extra charge,
I think the city of vancouver should provide a second larger yard trimmings cart to residents at no extra charge.
This would help residents be able to put more food scraps and yard trimmings out for collection by the city so instead of just collecting 1 cart, the city would collect two yard trimmings cart from each house.
7 votes -
hazardous materials amnesty day
I recently broke a mercury thermometer in my home and had to take it all the way to Delta, where they charge $100 to dispose of it responsibly. It was extremely tempting to just chuck it in the dumpster and have done with it, and I bet that happens much more often than it should. I hear both Langley and Chilliwack have days in October where they collect hazardous materials at people's homes. Could we do something like that in Vancouver? I think it would go a long way toward keeping hazardous materials out of the landfill.
3 votes -
Require businesses to be responsible for their own waste
Businesses that create large amounts of waste, and in particular those that encourage littering, such as fast food restaurants, should be responsible for reducing their waste - and for cleaning up what is littered onto City streets. While it is indeed the customers that are littering - it's still the businesses practice of creating large volumes of disposable trash that is the source. If they were responsible for cleaning it up and paying higher costs for its disposal, then they might reduce the amount of waste they produce. Only when it becomes more costly for businesses to create waste than…
234 votes -
Encourage deconstruction to recover used building materials & reduce construction waste
Construction waste accounts for a huge proportion of waste in our landfills. The majority of materials can be reused, recycled or repurposed. Deconstruction offers job creation opportunities and supports a new market for used building materials
202 votesThe Draft Greenest City Action Plan includes an action to develop a building deconstruction policy. The City is piloting a building deconstruction project and is exploring options for an incentive program to encourage deconstruction.
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Compost, compost, COMPOST!
Encourage people to compost!!!!! Send out info to people and they will build it! And rainwater cachement systems are GREAT too.
20 votes -
Compost Organic Soil for City and Homeowner Projects Instead of Non-Sustainable Excavated Soils
Why are we in this day and age still excavating our finite and rare, rapidly disappearing and endangered natural topsoils and peat bogs?! We have more than enough organic waste from yards, lumber mills, and food to create very high quality compost soils that can be responsibly utilized throughout industry, construction, retail, home gardening, and horticultural/farming. We need to do the right thing by significantly limiting non-sustainable soil and peat excavations, and to increase useage of responsible GREEN products like compost soils from high volume, high-tech composting facilities, which would be an excellent return on investment and environmentally responsible solution…
7 votes -
"Waste" pick up
Have Garbage and recycling trucks able to pick up bins on both sides of each ally at once. We have a truck drive down our ally 4 times each garbage day (6 with waste bins). A ridiculous waste of resources....and where are our hybrid diesel trucks, as it is the epitome of stop and go traffic
6 votes -
Lobby provincially for increased bottle/can deposit values
Curbside drink container recycling is great, but the recycling rate for these things in BC is still only about 70%. This is a waste of resources. Other provinces (PEI for example) have kept pace better with inflation by charging more than our paltry 5-10 cents deposit per container, and not just by coincidence have higher recycling rates.
Side benefit: less garbage/broken glass in public places.
Caution: those who depend upon deposits for their livelihood (e.g. "binners") might experience new hardship as more people recycle, but this would be somewhat offset by higher returns per container found.
3 votes -
make bus transfers optional
I often don't need to transfer onto another bus or train so I would like it to be optional to receive a ticket after paying. So much paper waste could be reduced.
2 votes -
Neighbourhood drop-off areas for dog waste
There are so many dogs in the City now that the waste could be separated + composted or otherwise dealt with. Also options to plastic bags...
4 votes -
Use and Promote recycled paper
We could require the City of Vancouver to develop a policy stating that it will only use recycled paper. Encourage the use of recycled paper throughout the city, and when that is not possible - give preference to Forest Stewardship Council certified Products. We could then require that a portion of our newsprint that is collected to be used in newsprint here in Vancouver - and require a minimum recycled content in newspapers that are distributed in Vancouver (like California!) - which will reduce our climate footprint.
6 votes -
Plasma incineration
Incinerate garbage with plasma arc gasification technology, which breaks down waste primarily into elemental gas and solid materials, which may be reused. May also be net producer of electricity.
An analysis would need to be done to see if viable specifically for Vancouver's needs.
3 votes -
High Tech Large Volume Composting instead of Incineration
How Green is polluting our already smoggy air by incinerating our garbage locally?! We should follow proven and tested highly successful models used in Europe and the USA for high volume organic waste composting facilties. Almost anything that can be burned, can be safely composted and then reused as high quality soils by local homeowners, farmers, retail, and industry. Why has Metro not chosen and built such an odorless and responsible GREEN system here yet? (Like GORE Cover System used in largest such facility in USA located just 1/2hour south of Vancouver in Everett, WA at Cedar Grove Composting) Say…
3 votes -
Minimize allowable garbage pickup to 1 can / 2 weeks, and allow all amounts of recycling / compost
Capping the amount of recycling allowable for pick-up does not encourage recycling adequately, as it results in the homeowner needing to truck their (i.e.) large cardboard boxes to a transfer station. Often this is seen as too arduous, and instead a person will just call a junk-hauler. Accepting all amounts of recycling encourages people to separate their waste to take full advantage of the recycling pick-up system.
Limiting the volume of garbage can allowable per person will push people to compress and carefully select which items go to waste.
To deter putting garbage in recycling containers, perhaps collectors could give…
14 votes -
City Of Vancouver internal operation need to be leaders
I can't believe how far behind city operation are with regards to recycling it's embarassing. We need easy accessible recycling facilities on each floor and or lunch room. Examples of companies that do this well Microsoft, Whole Foods even Metro Vancouver Head Office.
1 vote -
More glass recycling
There used to be a lot of glass bottle recycling back 20-30 years ago. It seemse less so now. I think it should be increased again since there's still a lot of glass usage. And not just bottles but jars and containers. I think al glass can be broken up, melted and reused again.
1 vote -
Biodegradable Shopping bags.
As a grocery clerk, I can see this idea being very effective among the people, and the environment.
Plastic bags are commonly used by retailers because they are cheap, strong, functional, lightweight, and a hygenic means of carrying food and other items. However, we use a staggering amount of plastic bags, despite their harmful effects. Plastic bags litter the landscape, kill animals, are non-biodegradable, and created using petroleum.
I propose a change to this system, using biodegradable plastic shopping bags. Also, if a customer may wish to use a biodegradable bag, it will cost them a mandatory fee. Therefore, a…
13 votes -
Work with the Commercial Fishing Industry to recycle unwanted Nylon Netting and Leaded lines
[Submitted via email by Terry Slack]
Vancouver and Richmond has a historic and still active commercial Fishing Industry . Presently tons of commercial fishing gear waste is sent to landfills every year and there are still no overall plans inplace to recycle leaded lines and nylon webbing from discarded nets and other gear . The Lead Core lines have no waste metal value and can not presently be recycled ! The old waste nylon webbing again cannot presently be recycled and is also sent to Landfill ! The Lead from the landfilled fishing waste will pollute the environment for hundreds…
9 votes
