While the community will have to say goodbye to the Let’s Talk Trash team, hopefully the remaining members of the group will re-invent what has been a successful project, with the support of Powell River Regional District.
Coco Hess and Abby McLennan, the original members of the team, started a solid waste management education program in 2011, after Hess’s company, BHC Consulting, won a contract from the regional district. They called themselves the Let’s Talk Trash team and quickly made their mark in the community.
The solid waste management plan, developed by the regional district and still awaiting approval by the provincial minister of environment, mandates an approach to zero waste. The team, which expanded to include more members, had a zero waste action plan that included an innovative education program on sustainable waste management for schools, businesses and residents.
The team established a community compost education centre, collected Styrofoam for recycling, conducted waste audits and composition studies for local businesses, published a Waste Wise Annual Guide and launched a Zero Waste Challenge as well as a Zero Waste Conference. Additionally, it participated in community activities with its zero waste station. Now we can’t imagine a Sea Fair, Blackberry Festival or Fall Fair without the colourful containers that help participants sort their trash in the best way possible.
Zero waste is the goal, as members of the team have pointed out, and the journey to zero waste is a long one. Complicating the issue in the future is an overhaul of recycling programs throughout the province due to the Multi-Material BC (MMBC) program. MMBC is an industry stewardship group formed by retailers and other packaging producers, slated to take responsibility for collecting and recycling packaging of all sorts by next May as a result of new provincial regulations.
How MMBC will affect waste management education programs is unclear at this point, as are other aspects of the program. Many local governments have concerns about MMBC, including the program’s implementation, local control of recycling programs and producers taking full financial responsibility for the recycling and collection of their waste.
It’s important that the work the Let’s Talk Trash team has done doesn’t disappear. The team achieved a high standard and became a valuable resource in the community.
We can all improve on reducing our waste. The program helped raise awareness about the need to work toward zero waste, as well as providing practical advice about how to achieve small steps along the way.
