By Katrina Forrest, Surfrider Pacific Rim’s Zero Waste Expert

If you are pondering beginning the journey of waste reduction, welcome; we are so happy you are interested. I have been journeying towards Zero Waste for over 2 years and according to www.footprintcalculator.org if everyone lived my lifestyle, we would use only .7 of Earth’s resources per year. That is low, like really low, but it’s also not easy or realistic for most people. 

I go out of my way to ensure that I create as little waste as possible. It takes time and energy to shop in different stores depending on whether I’m buying bread or meat or grains. I research every new item I buy to be sure that the company I am supporting is on the right path towards social and environmental justice. 

Obviously this lifestyle is not for everyone. I have the privilege of being a stay at home mom and understand that not everyone can put the time, money, and effort into living my lifestyle and I don’t expect them to. I would encourage you, if you are able, to find ways to reduce your footprint one step at a time so that it is not overwhelming. 

The thing is, living within the resources of one Earth is nearly impossible these days. It’s a systemic issue that affects everyone on Earth. Sure, we have gotten used to instant and affordable gratification, but it runs deeper than that. Those 3.2 million Canadians living below the poverty line, not to mention those countless more just above it, don’t get to make the kind of choices I do because they are focused on survival. When deciding between feeding your family or supporting a great new company, there is only one choice.

The average Canadian uses 7.7 Earths worth of resources per year. Now that is not to say we are all flagrantly wasteful. Although much of our waste comes from the industrial sector who lack proper waste management and extended producer responsibility, a lot of the waste we create is bigger than products we consume in our households. It comes from living in an affluent country. The large homes, inefficient supply chains, and infrastructure, building blocks of our towns and cities all take resources to create and sustain and that affluence is added to our total consumption. Unless you can afford to build a new home, there’s not much to be done about its size and efficiency. So how can we reduce our residential footprint without revamping our entire life?

Proper household waste management is a simple and effective way to reduce a home footprint. Being aware of what goes in the trash, what goes in the recycling, and what goes in the compost can cut tons of waste from heading into our landfill. However, at this strange crossroads of technical ability versus available infrastructure, it is easy to get sucked into “wish-cycling”, which is the tendency to put things in the blue box that seems easily recyclable without actually checking to make sure the local depot is able to accept it.

To reduce wish-cycling, the ACRD has a new app, the ACRD Recycling & Waste Wizard, to help keep us informed about what goes where, and when it’s collected. For items that can’t be collected currently, I keep a blue box designated for tricky to recycle items until a program becomes available to accept them. 

That may sound like a storage nightmare, however, companies like Terracycle are partnering with other well-known household brands regularly in order to temporarily accept unusual items. If traveling outside of the Pacific Rim, many London Drugs have extensive recycling programs for items not collected at most depots. 

Understanding local curbside recycling, depot recycling, and composting norms will further reduce our household garbage, but what about e-waste? Unfortunately, many of the devices and appliances we buy are manufactured to become obsolete and their recycling programs are, at this point, extremely socially and environmentally detrimental. 

Planned obsolescence ensures that companies can continue making money selling products to replace older models. The Right to Repair movement has been gaining popularity as a strong means to reduce waste and combat planned obsolescence. 

The Right to Repair movement does not imply that each of us should now learn to maintain and repair electrical devices. The goal is to have manufacturers release the information on how repairs can be made, and to stop voiding warranties if serviced outside of their companies, so that repair shops can make a come-back, thus keeping the devices we enjoy in use and out of landfills. 

The green movement is not, as some believe, a call to return to cave living, denouncing all things technological. Our goals at Surfrider aim to modify the current linear system of cradle to grave production so that our resources can be used again and again, without creating waste or toxic pollution. 

The products we enjoy should not provide temporary pleasure at the cost of our health and the health of our environment. Systems of production can, and should, be set up to sequester carbon and not produce it and to retain resources instead of wasting them.

At the end of the day, we are all trying to do our best. Hopefully, you are not feeling overwhelmed with what you cannot do and instead feel inspired about what you can do. Here are some ways in which you can improve the waste stream coming from your homes:

1. All recycling must be cleaned in order to be accepted.

2. A triangular recycling symbol does not necessarily mean that it can be recycled as that symbol is actually a resin code for identification.

3. Compostable and “biodegradable” plastics cannot be recycled or composted on the Pacific Rim (or most other places). 

4. Crinkley foil plastics, used for chips and candies, as well as soft plastics, can be recycled if brought into the Sonbird recycling depot (or London Drugs). 

5. Any additional information you need can be found at www.pacificrim.surfrider.org

6. Remember that the best tool is education. Keep reading. Keep learning.