Dont be a Tosser

All it takes is a couple of people to ruin it for everyone. In anything, a small number of individuals can have a larger negative impact on something than the positive actions of many. I witnessed a perfect example of this while boating this past weekend.

A couple of buddies and I went out to Ghost Lake to enjoy the sunshine and have a relaxing day on the water. Drifting across the lake, we saw something in front of us. As we got closer, we realized that what we saw was beer cans and bottles floating in the water. Beer bottles are the last thing anyone wants to see when they’re in such a beautiful place.

What really sunk in that day was the question of what our lakes would look like if everyone threw their cans, bottles and garbage into them. We are so lucky to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. If we want our lakes to remain as beautiful as they are today for future generations, we have to respect them. Recycling on your boat is one of the easiest ways of protecting Alberta’s beautiful lakes. It’s as simple as keeping a bag on the boat. Let’s not ruin our lakes for each other and for our kids.

This past week my friend and I were fortunate enough to receive an invitation to the Spruce Meadows National Tournament. Upon arrival to the grounds I was quite impressed by the effort Spruce Meadows had taken to encourage recycling throughout the park. Every food location we found had one or more recycling and trash bins set up directly beside each other. With the bins so close and readily available, it seemed almost impossible that anyone could justify tossing their bottles. But how far are people willing to go in order to recycle? Being the curious individuals we are, my friend Tyler and I decided to conduct our own social experiment over lunch. This social experiment shocked us, and led us to realize just how bad people’s attitudes towards recycling in our city are.

Fifteen steps was all it took. Moving one of the recycling bins fifteen steps away from the garbage completely eliminated the number of bottles being thrown into it. Over the course of our one hour lunch, we watched the slaughter unfold in front of our eyes. Bottle after bottle fell. After the first painful hour, forty-five bottles had fallen at the hands of the shameless tossers. The most shocking thing we witnessed was that not one person walked the extra distance to recycle. Are people truly that lazy? Do they have that little time? Do they not understand how to recycle?

If people aren’t willing to take fifteen extra steps to recycle then Alberta is in trouble. Imagine how many bottles are thrown out downtown every day because of the lack of recycling units. It comes down to individual effort in the end. Each one of us needs to take those extra steps in order to fix our recycling attitude!

-Ty and Rob

Milk quench your thirst? Recycle it after June 1st.

Okay, enough with the rhymes; point is, beginning June 1st you can now bring your empty milk containers to all Alberta Bottle Depots and get cash back.

In fact, Alberta will become the first jurisdiction in North America to include milk and cream containers in regulated deposit / refund system. Ready-to-serve beverage containers in excess of 30 ml containing fluid milk, creams, whipping creams, buttermilk, drinkable yogurts, and meal replacement drinks are included. Only containers sold after June 1st, 2009, bearing the "Alberta Deposit" mark will be valid for return.

Including milk into the Depot system is expected to reduce the amount of cartons and plastic jugs going into Alberta landfills. In 2006, only 28% of the cardboard cartons were recycled and only about 52% of the jugs. So, next time you quaff a carton of chocolate milk, remember: don't be a Tosser, recycle your empty.

Check out the consumer info document over at milkcontainerrecycling.com for details on the program.