Wallowing in a world of waste

 

Coming to Prince Edward island as summer residents, not tourists, has involved a learning curve as moving to any new place always does.  Understanding the waste management system here on the island has been and still is a special challenge. Islanders have had years to accustom themselves to the rules and bins and are proud that they recycle so much waste.

Of course we want to fit in and do the right thing. We phoned Island Waste Management Corporation and for $95 they delivered all we needed to start our own domestic waste program.

Our kit included  the waste calendar:

We also received the Waste Watch Sorting Guide:

We have two huge bins on wheels. The green one is for recycling compostables, and the black one is for true waste:

The third container is small and is for collecting compost. It sits under our sink in the kitchen:



 

The contents of the small green pail are removed periodically by Greg (he is the designated household waste manager) and thrown into the large green compost container outdoors. Beside the green compost pail is the kitchen garbage container - rarely used!

 

Meanwhile, other recycling finds its way, thanks to Greg,  into one of two blue bags. This one is for paper and coffee carriers and egg cartons:





 



 

 

The other blue bag (#2)  is for glass, plastics and metals. It looks much the same, so I don't have a picture of it. Plastic bags go in that recycling bag, as you must not wrap waste in anything; waste goes into the black bin naked as it were. Bag #2 also contains milk cartons, cans, glass jars and surprisingly broken Christmas tree lights and things like toasters - and our coffeemaker, which itself is toast.

 

Waste includes potato chip and other snack bags, broken mirrors, frozen juice cans, old clothes, and other odds and ends that are neither recyclable nor ... Household Hazardous Waste. HHW is taken by the homeowners to special depots dotting the Island.

 

Meanwhile, into the compost container go what you might expect: vegetable material and coffee grounds, the odd lobster shell or fish remnant but also cereal boxes, tissues and twigs.

 

You are advised to rinse out the green bin with water and vinegar occasionally, the wisdom for which becomes obvious very quickly in hot weather.

 

Cardboard must be broken down and wrapped with string into manageable bundles. This pile awaits Greg's ministrations:

 

 

 

It is an on-going challenge to determine what goes where. Various kinds of extraneous products challenge my sorting abilities:

 

 



 

Here we see a glass jar, a metal lid, the handle of a broken plastic beach shovel, broken apart clothespins, a cardboard box and the inside of  a rice cracker box:



 
Some items are obvious - other less so. In fact I was so mystified by the clothespins, that I put them back together again and re-used them.

Finally garbage day arrived.

Actually, as you can see by the style of truck, it was recycling day at least for the two kinds of blue plastic bags and the cardboard. The compost goes out another day and the waste some other time. I  must go and check the calendar on the refrigerator or ask Greg for the umpteenth time, something I am reluctant to do, as I really need to learn this for myself.