Create new recycling habits for the new year – this is one resolution you’ll want to keep!
- Bookmark the What Goes Where search tool on your computer/smartphone. Visit calgary.ca/whatgoeswhere to find out what to recycle, compost or dispose of.
- Know what not to put in your Blue Cart. Batteries, loose plastic bags, clothing, food and liquid, garden hoses, electrical cords, Styrofoam, needles and yard waste do not belong in the recycling.
- Group your bins together. Make it easy for anyone in your house to recycle – just as easy as it is to throw something away. Put your inside recycling bin next to your garbage can. For extra credit, add extra recycling and composting bins in your kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry room. Most of your home’s recyclables and compostables come from these three rooms.
- Empty, clean and dry. Before you toss your empty containers, cans, jars, bottles, and cartons, make sure you rinse out liquids, food residue and such – then put these containers in your blue bin.
- Keep electronics and batteries out of the recycling cart. While these should be recycled, batteries and electronics do not belong in your curbside recycling bin. These items can start fires at recycling facilities and in the garbage trucks. Visit calgary.ca/whatgoeswhere to know where to safely recycle or dispose of electronics and batteries.
- Bag your bags. Make it easier to bag your bags by setting up a spot in your home to collect them together. Hang a bag off a hook inside a cabinet or clip a bag off the side of your indoor recycling bin. Fill the bag up with all your stretchy bags as you get them. Once the bag is full, tied closed and then put in your blue bin. Restart again with a new bag and fill up.
- Prepare your recyclables the right way
a) Bundle your stretchy bags and wrap together into a single bag and securely tie closed.
b) Bag your shredded paper.
c) Put the rest of your recycling loose into your blue cart.Make sure your recyclables are not packed in too tightly or they will not fall out of the cart during pickup.
- Download the Garbage Day App. Never miss a collection day by downloading the Garbage Day app onto your phone. View your schedule on-the-go and set notifications to remind you of your blue, black and green cart collection days.
- Beyond the blue bin. Some items can’t be recycled or disposed of in any of the bins. This includes scrap metal, household chemicals and paint, used motor oil and clothing and textiles. The City offers drop-off programs for many of these items. Visit calgary.ca/whatgoeswhere to learn where to safely recycle or dispose of these items.
- Reduce, reuse, and rethink. When it comes to sustainability, reducing, reusing, and rethinking helps make an even bigger impact for the environment. Find ways to change your daily consumption of materials with these easy tricks:
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- Reduce by saying no to single-use items like straws, plastic grocery bags and disposable coffee cups.
- Reuse by never leaving your house without your reusables like your water bottle, coffee cup, canvas shopping bag and cutlery set (e.g. fork, spoon, chopsticks, straw).
- Rethink by buying items in easily recyclable packaging like paper and cardboard or choosing better options like using Tupperware containers instead of plastic wrap.
