Seriously, how could I resist not writing about Markham?

The GTA section of today’s Toronto Star [Bugmenot] discussed the success of the new Green Bin program. I remember just two months ago, we were greeted by infamous suburban signage in public parks town-wide— introducing us to the Mission Green initiative and the new bin that is hitting town. I was quite excited when we first received our Green Bin welcome pack— which included the Green Bin, the mini green bin, and the hip instructional DVD— which, by the way, is excellent.

Although it took time to get used to, my family has learned to accept this new process of sorting out “waste” in our home. I get this crazy giddy feeling every time I have an opportunity to put something in there, whether it is small things like nail clippings, to large things like watermelon skin.

My mother has definitely been the strongest advocate for ensuring that Green Bin items go into the Green Bin— not primarily because she’s pro-environment, but because she just loathes having garbage sit at home for two full weeks.

Since the start of the Green Bin initiative, the Town changed its collection schedule to have Blue Box and Green Bin items collected weekly, while the remaining waste (now known as residue) will be collected bi-weekly. This I think has made the community think twice before they throw anything, especially as it has been so hot and humid the past few weeks. Councillor Jack Heath had this appropriate quote:

We call it a little bit of tough love… If you want to hold on to the yucky stuff for two weeks, you can, or you can put out your green bin once a week.

According to the Star, 66% of Markham’s garbage is being diverted away from Michigan landfill sites. From my personal household observation, however, the proportion doesn’t seem that high. Though I do notice that we continue to only have one garbage can full of residue, albeit more full, with the new bi-weekly residue collection arrangement.

I recently had a conversation about Green Bins, and we brought up a few noteworthy points:

• Organics are being diverted at the small expense of additional bin liners. The Town requires that we keep our large and mini-Green Bins clean by lining them with plastic bags. I’m unsure whether the bags are later recycled.


• How are plastic bags removed from the organics? See Page Two


• How do we encourage people living in flats to support Mission Green? (Not that there’s many highrises in Markham.) From my personal experience living in rez, my roommates are sometimes too lazy to bring the items down to the ground level.

If there was the infrastructure in place in highrises (i.e. extra chutes) to accommodate “Blue” and “Green” items, that would be excellent.

In addition to the Green Bin, the Mission Green program introduced new materials that are accepted in the Blue Box, including paint and aerosol cans, and all Plastics 1 thru 7. Sadly for take-out kings like our family, polystyrene is still not accepted, and must be taken to recycling depots.