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.

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

Every year in British Columbia the hotel industry deposits over 250 metric tones of soap and bottled amenities directly into our landfills. What if that soap could be cleaned, sanitized, and re-purposed for humanitarian emergencies and communities around the world where hand washing with soap can reduce by up to 60% the deaths of children under the age of 5. www.cleantheworld.org

Mission Possible, a agency in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside is employing women at risk by recycling hotel soaps and bottled amenities. www.mission-possible.ca

Ban any EPR material from being commingled in single stream totes. Specificaly packaging materials!

To reduce smell and garbage, and can be picked up daily by volunteers or city works to be put in round about gardens or used in local parks

Here's a top-down, Draconian notion that still has merit: a bylaw that prohibits the distribution and posting of leaflets and placards and other miscellaney. Fine those who insist on papering our doors, bikes, benches, cars, and streets with unrequested promotional materials. It's one thing to offer somebody an item and another to scatter them pell mell.

Some stats : 27.4 billion disposable diapers are consumed every year in the U.S.
Over 92% of all single-use diapers end up in a landfill.
Disposable diapers are the third largest single consumer item in landfills, and represent about 4% of solid waste.
No one knows how long it takes for a disposable diaper to decompose, but it is estimated to be about 250-500 years, long after your children, grandchildren and great, great, great grandchildren will be gone.

Drugstores produce lots of plastic waste. All players should be responsible for there proper disposal,

It saves greenhouse gases by the trucks cleaning the streets, provides compost, and gets citizens talking

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...

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.

Read all about it here: http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/eco-tech-shooting-rubbish-at-50mph-for-a-cleaner-residential/

I read that this is already happening is other cities in the US.

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.

A trash littered and gum encrusted downtown core does not enhance Vancouver’s bohemian edginess. They make the city look filthy and encourage more littering. Cleanliness is a virtue; City, please do your job and sweep / scrape the streets much more often than you do presently. Compared to other densely populated places like Chicago, Atlanta and New York, we’re filthy. It's embarrassing and pathetic.

Citizens of Vancouver already pay enough in taxes, this service should be available to everyone in Vancouver, this will reduce the waste faster than any other idea.

Make it possible for residences or small businesses to find other people / businesses near them, so they can pool low-volume waste streams like batteries, light bulbs, wood pallets together to make it economically viable for recyclers to come and pick them up

Use less paper in City Hall. Aim marketing inititatives toward businesses to go paperless, and provide incentives if possible. Stop using flyers/cardboard signs for city events or elections. And most of all - no more leaflets!!!