GC 2020
96 results found
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Expand current blue box recycling
Expand what can be recycled in the blue-box containers (eg: tetra-paks, plastic bags / wrappers / film, and other plastic types)
Personally, I would prefer to see a reduction in the use of plastic shopping bags. But in the mean time...it would be great to be able to recycle them effortlessly & easily.
15 votes -
Disposable Deposit
Each and every disposable container should have a 50 cent deposit on it; a coffee cup with a lid = $1.00, a plate, fork and knife $1.50 etc.
15 votes -
Charge business and commercial waste by weight instead of by bin
Wastes from businesses and commercial enterprises are generally put into dumpsters that are removed on a regular basis. These wastes includes food waste from restaurants, grocery stores and markets as well as industrial wastes such as wood, metals, construction materials and so on. If businesses were incentives to reduce the WEIGHT of their wastes they would be much more likely to find creative ways to divert it from the landfill stream. So dumpsters with less 'garbage' in them simply cost less to the business.
14 votes -
E-voting saves on paper ballots
E-voting saves on paper ballots and ensures greener politicians win since they tend to be favoured by the hackers who would penetrate the online system!
14 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 -
Eliminate move-in waste by using reusable moving supplies to move your home or office.
Using reusable moving supplies in place of wasteful cardboard boxes not only allows for easier and more organized packing, water resistant, crush proof crates are loaded onto the moving truck in a 1/3 of the time as cardboard boxes, lessening your hourly moving costs. The use of reusuable moving supplies is Eco-friendly regardless whether the supplies are made from raw or recycled materical. But to further 'green' your move, make sure to use moving supplies that are derived from recycled materical.
13 votes -
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 -
Fines for not recycling
The City should insitute and enforce fines against residents and commercial entities for placing recyclables in the garbage. Currently recycling is voluntary. it should not be.
11 votes -
Eliminate residential curbside recycling collection of packaging materials
BC is a world wide leader in extended producer responsibility (EPR) policy. Also known as "product stewardship", current legislation covers items such as tires, paint, beverage containers, and electronics. High recycling rates of these materials are achieved through consumer "take back" programs, where recyclable items are returned to retail stores or taken to depots. EPR policy is centred on the notion of placing waste management/recycling responsibility of products that become waste squarely on the shoulders of the industries that produce these items in the first place. The benefit of EPR is that it shifts the costs of managing these items…
11 votes -
Make the free stuff Xchange on 4th and McDonald official.
It's a great corner run by 'Santa Claus', a white earded man who patrols the street for useful 'junk' and leaves it on the corner for anyone to take and 'reuse'. I've found some amazing things there and he keeps the stuff outta the landfill.
Reusing is better than recycling anyday!!
10 votes -
"Smart" garbage cans that pay you to recycle
Modify city garbage and recycling cans to contain identification tags, so the biggest recyclers can get coupons, cash or credit rewards. The worst recyclers get warnings and fines that pay for the project quickly. The cost of this project has been only $2.4 million elsewhere.
Please look at these links:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2006/1001-smart_trash_cans.htm
http://www.telecomengine.com/newsglobe/article.asp?HH_ID=AR_6544
10 votes -
Create signs to alert tourists that water, pop, juice and alcohol bottles are refundable, not trash.
Tourists, visitors and new Vancouver residents don't always know that in the City of Vancouver, these bottles are worth money, and are not garbage. A sign at each garbage can might prevent this and encourage them to put the bottles in the trash can pocket provided.
9 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 -
Provide recycled paper bins, not bags, to encourage paper recycling
Currently the bags get blown away in the wind, fall over. It's quite hard to keep them around. Bins for paper, similar to blue bins, would be much better
8 votes -
Composting Program for Buildinga west of Denman
Use part of Stanley Park to start a small composting program for apartments west of denman St. Low transport costs with high density...reduces garbage in dumpster and offers free compost for park and or residents. if it works duplicate using other parks in vancouver with nearby apartment complexes.
8 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 -
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 -
Simplify, Synchronize, and Rationalize the Collection of Recyclable Materials.
Simplify: Have one large blue bin - the same capacity as the City’s largest Green Bin currently used for single family dwelling yard waste collection. The current residential recycling program is too little and too complex. Most residents do not understand what can go into one of three distinct containers and they don’t understand that they can request additional containers. Miss-mixed containers and stacks of cardboard not broken down to the requisite 12”x12” sheets are routinely left curbside to rot and eventually be discarded in the larger waste containers. The current fact that the blue box is tiny and waste…
7 votes -
Water Reclamation and Re-use
Use a local sustainable technology such as Solar Aquatics to clean waste water for re-use within our communities. Decentralizing our waste water treatment and using fully aerated biological systems will reduce energy (pumping) costs, eliminate greenhouse gas and water pollution that come with conventional sewage treatment, reduce the amount of fresh water we need to take to take off the mountain and clean, and provide an abundance of recycled water for use in parks, gardens, green roofs, fire suppression, or a host of other needs we have.
6 votes -
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