- I think the number one focus should be on commercial recycling, especially retail and restaurants. I think after 20 years, residents are pretty good at it — and don't produce the majority anyway. There are sooo many businesses and strip malls that don't even have recycling, or at best only recycle cardboard. However, I always see so many garbage bins with cardboard because when the recycling is full, it's gotta go somewhere. Restaurants are notorious for not recycling tins, plastic, cans, etc. I'd like to see more mandatory recycling rules and penalties for not following them. It actually is possible to get a ticket for not recycling, cardboard (from experience at a former workplace), but never seems to happen.
- Lots of places also just toss their beer bottles instead of returning because it can be a pretty big hassle. I'd like to see bottle deposits rise to somewhere in the 25 cent range to motivate people to return. In many European cities the deposits on plastic and glass bottles are significant. It's interesting because it also has helped the homeless people in cities like Copenhagen and Berlin because they pick up any that are left around because they can make good money returning them.
- It's also time to start composting already in Winnipeg. Just do it. There will be lots of cost savings in landfill diversion and free fertilizer for City parks and plant beds. On the commercial note, I have to commend Earls Polo. By far the best company I've worked for in this matter. Recycled EVERYTHING, composted all food scraps, paper, etc. When we started composting the amount our trash output dropped was staggering. Went from 3 BFI trash pickups a week (always overflowing) to 1 smaller one.
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