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J ys April Ontario 1999 Lnvintmneiitcil topics forstudents Ontario's Blue Box Program Thanks to the people of Ontario, in just 12 Many also collect magazines, cardboard years the Blue Box program has grown boxes, writing paper, plastic bags, telephone from several hundred households in the early books and pizza boxes. 1980s to more than 3.7 million households But that's only the beginning today. Thanks to the Blue Box, in 1997 600,000 tonnes of garbage was kept out of In Ontario we believe you should reduce, landfill sites which helped them to last reuse and recycle. We should first reduce the longer. amount of garbage we produce. One of the Ontario's Blue Box Recycling is important for a lot of other ways to do that is to refuse to buy products program is one oftlie reasons. Every recycled glass jar, pop can or with too much packaging. best in North newspaper helps to protect the environment. Then we should reuse as many things as America. It has When companies use recycled material to we can; like repairing old bicycles or donat- helped reduce make a product, they produce less pollution, ing to charity stuff we can't use. Only when Ontario's wastegoing use less energy and require fewer raw materi- we've reduced and reused as much as possi- als. Thatcan only be good for the environment. ble, should we recycle. to disposal by 35 per For example: Ontario's Environment Minister Norm cent since 1987. • using recycled paper to make paper Sterling announced a new plan in October Thanks to the Blue products requires 65 per cent less water; r1e9u9s8e taondherlepcyoculreteovwennsmaonred.citTiheissrpeldauncew,ill Box, in 1997 • recycling one tonne of newsprint saves help us to reach our goal of reducing the 600,000 tonnes of 19 trees; amount of waste going to disposal by 50 per garbage was kept out • recycling one tonne of glass reduces the cent. Not only will the plan help the Blue oflandfills. This is equivalent of 1,057 kilograms of carbon Box, it will also help our towns and cities equal to three dioxide emissions (carbon dioxide is one compost even more food wastes, such as of the greenhouse gases which causes Skydomes full of banana peels, back into soil. It will also help global warming); and, garbage. us find ways to reduce and reuse other • recycling one pop can saves enough wastes like the used oil and tires that come The Minister's waste energy to power the average television from our cars. And it will help us find better set for 108 minutes. ways to dispose of other things that we use diversion plan is a good example ofhow From a few households in a in our homes like paints and cleaners. small city... Under the Minister's plan, companies companies, whose whose products and/or packaging end up in products are collected The Blue Box started as a small project in the Blue Box should help our towns and in the Blue Box, Kitchener, Ontario in the early 1980s. It cities make recycling work even better. should help make the spread to other towns and cities until, in Blue Box work even 1999, over 90 per cent of Ontario's popula- One efficient system is best better tion is able to use the Blue Box. Some people have asked the ministry to Today, towns and cities collect newspapers introduce a deposit-return system for glass and all food and beverage containers - like and plastic bottles. But that would mean we pop cans - made from aluminum, steel, glass would have two recycling systems in Ontario: and plastic in the Blue Box. the Blue Box for many materials including Ministry of the Environment 7 he Green Club I beverage containers, and a deposit-return Students in the lead A deposit-return system just for bottles. That would be too Ontario's students have helped to make the system for bottles expensive for everyone. Blue Box program the success it is. You recy- would only capture Wfiile several Canadian provinces have cle at school, at home, in parks, at communi- deposit-return systems for beverage contain- ty centers, and at arenas. And you create an extra onepercent ers, those containers end up getting recy- recycling projects for Earth Day, Environment ofOntario's waste cled, just like they do in Ontario. Week and science fairs. stream. It is better to We want to see the Blue Box expanded, Equally important, students have been focus on otheritems and run more efficiently, because it handles a recycling for so much of their lives that they liiie food waste, which lot more than bottles, and provides more are not in the habit of throwing stuff out. make up iO per cent materials for recycled goods. And it costs Instead, they wonder how they can recycle ofall waste, and on only about $14 per household per year, or it. And they encourage their parents to do household hazardous about the cost of a chocolate bar every the same. This is extremely important as waste that can harm month. Ontario heads toward the next millennium the environment. There's another reason, too. Cans and and to a less wasteful future. bottles make up only three per cent of all the waste we produce in Ontario each year. The For further information Blue Box program already captures about 50 contact: per cent of those cans and bottles. A Public Information Centre deposit-return program would reduce our Ministry of the Environment waste by only another one per cent. We think it would be better to concentrate T1o3r5onStt.o,ClOanitraArvieonMue4VWe1sPt5 our waste diversion efforts on other items in the waste stream... like food wastes which Telephone; (416) 325-4000 or make up 30 per cent of all the garbage we toll free at 1-800-565-4923 produce in Ontario. And on depots to col- Internet: www.ene.gov.on.ca lect other household wastes - like paints and car engine oils - which can harm our environment if they are not disposed of properly. ©MiQnuieesntsrPynnotefrftbfhOertaEhon.v1i99r9onment Pirniclnutdeidngon751%00p%osrte-ccyocnlseudnpnearpefribre PIBS:3759E 1M - 04 - 99