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Waste wise apartments offer recycling in Williams Lake

The Stagecoach Manor in Williams Lake has a large recycling bin in the parking lot of the complex.
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Joe Engelberts

The Stagecoach Manor has a large recycling bin in the parking lot of the complex. After the bin arrived, a few residents decided they would put the bin to use and start recycling.  Through word of mouth and encouragement, other residents began to recycle.

The residents of the apartment complex have embraced recycling and the bin is now full by the end of each week.

The Stagecoach Manor is not the only multi-unit residential development (MURD) recycling in Williams Lake.  Several others have recycling bins accessible to residents.

Boitano Place, Terra Vista, Magestic Manor, Tree House, Pine Villa, Highland Park, King’s Court and Eagle’s Nest all deserve acknowledgement of the great job they are doing in diverting materials that can be recycled out of the garbage and therefore out of our landfill.

Recycling helps reduce the consumption of natural resources such as: trees used to make paper, fossil fuels used to make plastic and metals extracted through mining.

Producing aluminum from scrap, instead of bauxite, cuts energy use and air pollution by 95 percent. Recycling paper to make new products requires three quarters less energy and less than half the amount of water.

Developing products from recycled plastic requires one third the amount of energy and uses less oil than manufacturing new products does.

Recycling diverts that waste from our landfills and means a longer lasting landfill.

Less waste also means a major cost savings to the city and this money can then be used for other projects.

Do you live in an apartment, condominium, townhouse or other multi-family building? Are you still tossing your newspapers, plastic containers and cardboard (just to name a few items) in the trash? Would you like to see recycling improved in your building? If so, become a “recycling champion.”

The Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society’s Waste Wise program can help develop a recycling plan for your building and educate residents on what can be recycled and what cannot.  Contact the society at 250-398-7929 or e-mail sustain@ccconserv.org to discuss recycling options for your building.

Interested?

Talk to other residents, start setting aside your recyclables and contact the manager or owner of your complex and ask for a recycling bin. In the city of Williams Lake there are two options for Multi-Unit Residential Developments (MURDs).

A large recycling bin that can be placed in the parking lot can be rented from Cariboo disposal for $20 per month. The city will pay the fee to have the bin emptied weekly. This is the best option for large apartment complexes. An excellent option for smaller townhouse or duplex units, are the rolling 240L bins which are available from the city for $65.

The bins must be rolled to the curb on the appropriate day and the city will pick up the recycling for free.

So let’s continue to work together to reduce waste and allow the city to put the money saved to better use in our community.