O garbage pile: Why you should try to create less waste this holiday season

Waste diversion advocates are encouraging residents to keep up their green efforts over the holidays, while Metro Vancouver statisticsshow that, on average, each resident sends half a tonne of garbage to a landfill each year.

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The holiday season often results in a crush of garbage from households in the form of packaging from gifts, food and because of the behaviour of people who normally reduce, reuse and recycle but sometimes suspend these activities during the busy season.

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It's something Larina Lopez recognizes as a communications manager with Metro Vancouver. She describes December into Januaryas a "difficulttime of year" around creating waste.

She works on five Metro Vancouver campaigns that aim to change peoples behaviour around garbage.

'Do the right thing'

"Thinking about the next generation instead of ourselves in our immediate moments, I think that helps people really feel motivated to do the right thing," she said.

Seven years ago, Metro Vancouver launched itsCreate Memories Not Garbagecampaign, which now has 170 examples of gifts, decorating and wrapping that don't create waste.

Prior to the program being launched, Metro Vancouver says residents sent about 20,000 tonnes of waste to landfills between Dec. 25 and and Jan. 5 each year.

The latest numbers from 2016 show that amount to be lower, at around 15,000 tonnes. One tonne is1,000 kilograms.

"It is a really difficult time of year, but we do see people really trying to make an effort over the years,"said Lopez."We've seen people really appreciating the campaign by telling us what they did differently this Christmas."

Still,Metro Vancouver statistics show waste diversion rates stuck at around 62 per cent. The goal is to keep 80 per cent of waste from landfills by 2020.

Recycle B.C., which runs the blue box program for close to 1.9 million households in the province to manage packaging and paper recycling, saysfurtherreductions in waste can be met if residents do a better job at sorting items and making sure they are clean.

It also wants residents to knowthat there are options to recycle items not currently included in the blue box program.

For example in June, some recycling depots across B.C. started accepting flexible plastic packaging, which include chip bags, Ziploc bags and other packaging made of different kinds of plastic.

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The program is set to expand to all depots in 2019. London Drugs also accepts the materials.

Lindsey Chauhan, director of marketing and communications with Recycle B.C. says keeping the waste out of landfills shouldn't be a burden for most people.

"I think one of the things that's easy about it, is just trying to incorporate it into existing errands that you're doing," she said.

Meanwhile, Lopez says if you need a New Year's resolution to help drive home the importance of creating less waste, plan a tour of a landfill in 2019.

"It gives you a whole different perspective of understanding the abundance of our society and the waste that goes on. It is a real big eye opener," she said.

Metro Vancouver's four other waste diversion programs are fornot wasting food, keeping organic materials from landfills, not illegally dumping garbageand dealing with e-waste.