(KE St. Laz Trash)Many St. Lazare businesses are using the maximum amount of recycling bins allowed in order to reduce their trash output. (Kristina Edson)
It was billed as a trash diet, but did St. Lazare lose any excess garbage weight from its self-imposed pick up reduction?
According to town communications agent Geneviève Hamel, garbage tonnage in St. Lazare is down slightly, while the total number of houses from which garbage is collected is up.
In January, the town introduced its garbage diet by reducing weekly trash collection in the municipality of more than 18,000 people to every other week, or twice a month on average.
Collection went back to once a week after Victoria Day, in May when warmer temperatures mean garbage may become more odorous.
Hamel says that while final results from the 2009 collection are not in, the amount of garbage collected in St. Lazare is down.
“We did have a slight decrease from 2007 to 2008 in our trash tonnage,” she noted.
According to the MRC, a total of 8,995.3 tons of garbage were collected in St. Lazare in 2007, while 8,972.5 tons were picked up in 2008.
But, says Hamel, “In 2007 and 2008 we had an increase of 356 new doors (houses) to pick up from so despite increasing number of households we’ve managed to decrease the garbage.”
The town is confident that it will see an even greater decrease by end of 2009.
Businesses feel the pinch
Hamel also pointed out that refuse from the town’s business district is included in overall numbers.
“I can’t say how much of our tonnage represents just residential households and not all businesses are reducing the trash they put out which will increase our numbers,” Hamel said.
A St. Lazare business owner, who asked that his name not be used in print, agreed that he puts out more garbage than is allowed.
“I cheated,” admitted the business man. “I’m supposed to put out 3 cubic feet of garbage each week and sometimes I can put out as much as 30 cubic feet… for me (the reduction is) definitely a huge inconvenience.”
And, he added, he hires three separate companies to take away various recyclable materials, including one which picks up cardboard once a week for an additional $100 weekly fee.
The businessman said he uses two of the blue 360-litre bins which were distributed to all MRC towns in 2007.
According to Hamel, each business in town is able to use up to four recycling bins, though not all do.
“They are given two bins to use, but can purchase another two for under $100 each if they want,” she said. Reduction a regional effort
St. Lazare was the first town to reduce its garbage collection to bi-weekly before the election, noted Hamel, who says that other towns will probably follow suit shortly.
And according to the Vaudreuil-Soulanges MRC, the amount of recyclables collected across the 23 towns has more than tripled in less than a decade.
Eight years ago, 5,188 metric tons of recyclable materials were collected across the region, while companies picked up 15,500 metric tons of recyclable materials in 2008.
Yet for St. Lazare, it is still not enough.
“For sure there is still more that we can do,” said Hamel. “Some people really make an effort (to recycle) but others can do much better and we think they can do better at reducing the amount of trash they put out, too.”
The town, and others like it, is further encouraging garbage reductions by hosting things such as composting information seminars.
St. Lazare will go back to its reduced garbage collection in October.
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