Photo: Contributed
Do you know which items can be placed in your blue bin for recycling purposes and which ones cannot?
The list of ineligible materials is longer than you might think, which is why Quentin Thiessen and his wife Sarah have started a business they hope will help both you and the environment.
EcoEase Recycling will pick up the items you are not allowed to put in the recycling bin and haul them away to their proper resting place.
“Obviously we’re looking to run a profitable business, but at the same time we want to do what we can to help the environment,” Thiessen says. “We only have one planet to live on so we’d better do our best to look after it. Shortages in city resources have forced them to create new rules and unfortunately it’s been made more difficult for households to recycle these materials. Our goal is to provide a service that makes it easier for everyone, and hopefully more possible to fit into their already too busy schedule.
“A lot of people probably just trash these items because it is so much of an extra chore. With our landfill already nearing maximum use, we’re obligated to do everything we can to reduce our impact. Why sacrifice more of our valuable land for a new landfill before we have to? If our service encourages even just one Kelowna resident to make better choices when generating trash we will consider our venture a success.”
Did you know, for example, that you cannot put glass, styrofoam, chip bags, bread bags, shrink wrap, plastic shopping bags and bubble wrap into your blue recycling bin? All of those should be going to recycling depots—as if your life weren’t already busy enough. EcoEase will also help you if you have more recycling than your blue bin can handle.
Thiessen says EcoEase will also take your empties back to the depot for you if you don’t want to do it. All proceeds collected will be donated to charity.
The idea for EcoEase Recycling was born when Sarah informed Quentin that the plastic grocery bag he was holding in their kitchen could neither be thrown in the garbage nor put in the recycling bin.
“As soon as we were no longer allowed to put them in there,” Thiessen says, “that’s when all of this kind of started to aggravate me.”
Thiessen soon had a bin full of similar items and was looking for a way to get them to a recycling depot.
“I wanted to call somebody and have them come and take my stuff away and recycle it for me,” he says. “I didn’t want to spend the time going to the depot and doing it myself. I don’t have a lot of spare time as it is.
“I did a search and tried to find somebody that would do it, and there really wasn’t anybody. So I thought maybe that’s not a bad idea for a business. And here we are.”
All you have to do is call or text 250-258-2300 to get the process started. The cost of one bag or bin is $22, and the rest can be negotiated from there. All you have to do is bag your clean recyclables and leave it on the curb. EcoEase will pick it up and sort the materials for you.
“Our goal in the end is to try to reduce our carbon footprint and maybe get an electric truck,” Thiessen says. “At this time it’s not in the budget, but we want to try and do everything as eco-friendly as we can. We feel that less trips to the depot is already a step in the right direction.”
This article is written by or on behalf of the sponsoring client and does not necessarily reflect the views of Okanagan Edge.
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