Visiting an event after a huge festival can sometimes be a depressing sight. Dawn breaks over litter-strewn grass and garbage cans spill onto pavement. The party is definitely over and the musicians have gone home.
There is another way to keep the celebration going, or at least to have the planet host a dance party in your honour. It starts with planning beyond festivities. Try this party planner motto on for size, “No garbage in, no garbage out.”
Much of the time, event garbage simply means unsorted compost and recycling mixed in with a little actual waste.
So where can you start? For large events, talking to vendors is key. Stem the tide of single-use plates, cups, plastic wrap, straws and forks that they will be tempted to bring. Offer them a set list of accepted single-use recyclables.
A good shortlist includes: unbleached paper plates and bowls, paper cups, plastic lids or no lids (not compostable lids), paper straws or no straws, wooden chopsticks or bamboo utensils, and unbleached paper napkins. All of these items can either be recycled (paper cups and plastic lids) or composted (everything else!).
To up your game, you can make use of the community set of 150-plus dishes available for free through Let’s Talk Trash. Also, keep your eyes peeled for next year’s events season when Powell River-ites will have access to a mobile dishwasher.
Compost, recycling and refundables (such as pop cans and drink boxes) need their own collection bins, ideally next to each garbage can.
Residents can also reserve the three sets of zero-waste sorting bins from Let’s Talk Trash by contacting us well in advance of an event at info@letstalktrash.ca.
Having a station monitor available to assist the public with sorting goes a long way to preventing contamination. And, remember, you can simply make your own stations using a few cardboard boxes or totes for a small-scale event.
Once collected, recycling and compost can be dropped off for free at the Town Centre recycling depot (located in the parking lot next to RONA).
Refundables can be given to a community group interested in a little cash for the trouble of sorting them and bringing them into Sunset Coast Bottle Depot on Duncan Street, or you can bring them yourself.
So, lead the way and designate yourself the zero-waste coordinator for your next event.
Let’s Talk Trash is Powell River Regional District’s waste-management education program.
