Waterloo Region Cares About Our Environment
Waterloo Region has always led the way in green initiatives. We are a population that cares about the environment. We contribute to Canada’s environmental efforts in many ways as well. Recycling organic, paper, and plastic waste is a way of life in our region, and most are conscientious about separating and sorting our garbage so that less goes into landfills. Acorn Waste Service collects single-stream recyclables. That means if you use their services more things you throw out are eligible to be recycled. Acorn takes their recycling products to local transfer stations. They use stations that take more than the average municipal recycling stations do. They also have their own sorting process, making sure to optimize recycling.
A Heavy Responsibility
Much effort goes in to reducing plastic waste here and throughout Canada, as we have the longest coastline in the world. Not to mention 25% of the worlds supply of fresh water. Because of these facts we are in a unique position that includes a heavy responsibility concerning our lakes and Oceans. You may wonder, since we have been working so hard to reduce and recycle waste for decades, how is it that our ocean’s are so full of plastic? Who’s putting it there?
Only 9%!
According to Canada.ca, only 9% of the 3 million tonnes of plastic waste we produce each year gets recycled. That’s a fact! Not everything we put in the blue box gets recycled. Much of Canada’s waste material gets shipped to other countries, some of which are much more careless about where it goes. Our government has a goal of becoming plastic free, but realistically no date can be set to accomplish this. “Plastic production in Canada is a $35 billion industry, that employees 100,000 people.” Did you know? Of the 3 million tonnes produced each year, close to 50% of it is packaging. Learn more about Plastic waste and pollution reduction in Canada.
The Results
Scientists believe that 73% of deepwater fish in the North Atlantic Ocean had eaten particles of plastic, known as microplastics. The truth is that the way we currently use and manage plastics is destroying ecosystems, and burdening wildlife. It also affects our economy as cleaning up after the fact is expensive. There are many more contributing factors to this problem such as the thousands of discarded fishing nets that are primarily plastic. We have only scratched the surface.
Be More Responsible With Waste
If there is a solution it will take an individual effort from each of us, and it will help to choose a waste company who looks for ways to do things better. Acorn Waste Service cares about local and global consequences of managing waste responsibly, including plastics. Talk to them about how to make your condominium complex or commercial property more environmentally responsible with waste. Together we can make a difference, and stop the build up of plastic waste in our Oceans