Recycling is more engaging at home when you involve your children. Teaching your kids how to recycle is a great way to teach them good habits, and show them how recycling can improve our environment. Did you know that the average Canadian family wastes nearly 150 pounds of paper each year?

We Canadians have improved our waste diversion from landfills over the last decade. However, we only improved our residential waste diversion by 2.8% (Statistics Canada). So how can we make waste diversion at home more engaging, and fun for the entire family?

There is a lot of opportunities to show children how paper is made, and how recycling paper can save forests. You can also show them that plastic containers can be reused and recycled, instead of thrown away. Marine waste is the biggest challenge in 2018, and international organizations are trying to find ways to reduce marine waste. You might think that there is only so much you can do locally or within your home. But the truth is, every little thing you start doing – recycling, teaching your children – will snowball into great things.

So here are 3 ways you can encourage conversations about recycling at home with your children:

Personalize your waste bins

Make personalized bins for glass, plastic, and paper recycling can go a long way. This teaches your children the importance of recycling and provides them a sense of ownership. They can become proud of their work, and be more willing to recycle when you’re not around to supervise.

Give your children coloring challenges like coloring in images of waste products and gluing them to the bin. Or, you can create a recycling goal chart above each bin and create a competition with your children to see how much you recycle at the end of each week. If your kids are interested, you can also host challenges where they compete against each other or even their neighbour’s kids, to see who recycle the most in a week!

Visit a recycling center

Take your family on a trip to the local recycling center or depot is a great way to introduce your children to recycling. You can use the opportunity to show your children that there are recycling centers nearby, so they remember it in the future. You can also give them homework when they get home to look up other centers and see where they are located. On the tour, you can meet the staff, have your children prepare questions to ask them and learn how recycled materials are made. You can also ask the centers to see if your family or children can volunteer.

Repurpose Waste into Educational Toys

Some fun activities include turning old water bottles or soda bottles into plant gardens, that your children can watch the plants grow. You can turn old textiles into jump ropes or kites, depending on how crafty you are. This is an excellent way to show children that you don’t need brand new toys all the time. Something made from home can also be just as fun!

What are some of the cool ways you’ve taught your children how to recycle? Share it with us on Twitter!

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Canadian Mattress Recycling is a 100% locally-owned BC company with a team of employees dedicated to customer service and environmental preservation through recycling. We are located in the middle of Metro Vancouver on Annacis Island on Delta, BC and serve the entire Lower Mainland region and beyond. We are winners of the Green Business of the Year in 2016 by the Delta Chamber of Commerce.

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Electronic Recycling – In today’s world, electronics have become a vital part of our life, we use them every day for endless needs such as grooming, entertainment, learning etc. When electronics are in the prime of their life cycle, they are very cool and indispensable, but when their life cycle is expired, they become a burden. It takes creativity to keep electronics out of trouble at their expired stage.

Ignoring electronic recycling has its own consequences. They contain some level of toxic materials which could be life-threatening. Therefore, abandoning them in landfills poses a threat to the safety and health of the community as well as the environment.

There are creative ways to recycle electronics and that is what this article is all about. These techniques make these electronic wastes to be relevant again and keep it off tech graveyards and landfills after they are expired.

Crafts

Crafting with electronic waste keep them off unwanted places and placing them into the hands of individuals that can extract new uses from them in offices and homes. As users find creative waste to give electronics and gadgets second chances, crafting with electronic waste could easily turn into the premiere hobby of the 21st century.

The world of crafting with electronic wastes is both intriguing and diverse. The choices range from computer monitor garden planters to keyboard cup holders etc.

Art

Electronic waste offers a meaty base material for keen artworks for those with the required skills and talent. For a long time now, designers, performance artist and sculptors have the passion to turn these wastes into artistic works. As the need of recycling electronics increases, these creative acts will take on new meaning and value. Turning electronic wastes into creative arts is a way to up-cycle life-threatening materials, materials that places the environment at risk and make it valuable and noteworthy again in the community.

New Gadgets

Similar to making crafts with electronic wastes, creating new tinker toys with old gadgets is still another method of making expired devices useful again. For tinkerers, the possibility of making new or even smarter electronics could be attained. Reverse engineering could transform an outdated computer into robots powered by solar energy. Other educational, household and office gadgets and tools can be created from electronic wastes.

Education

Electronic recycling also serves as a good opportunity to advance education through creativity. Nonprofit organizations and schools have acknowledged the risk posed by electronic waste and are encouraging students to think creatively and critically about how to reuse them. Across many nations, individual learn how to critically handle electronic issues through workshops and this is becoming more popular. This has further created good chance for communities and schools to raise funds and better inform residents about efficient ways to recycle electronic waste. Donating expired devices to schools prevents environmental harm and keeps the devices in circulation.

In Conclusion

Creatively recycling electronics is not only necessary, it is also interesting. As technology is fast advancing, new gadgets are displacing old ones at a rapid pace. Devising creative ways to recycle electronics can be a good solution to the never-ending e-waste crisis.

To find out where you can recycle your electronics click here.

What happens in a recycling plant depends on the material that the recycling plant handles. This summary is based on a recycling plant that can handle household recycling as well as small industrial material and recycling that is collected by individuals.

The basic steps are inspection, deposit, separation, processing, and transport.

Inspection

Not all material can be recycled. Aluminum cans that have been collected from lakes and contain rocky mud will damage the recycling plant equipment. These will be rejected. The plant is also tasked with not taking any material that is suspect to have been stolen.

Some materials cannot be recycled. The recycling plant may have a process to handle such materials and have an environmentally safe method of disposal. In addition, inspection prevents plant workers from being exposed to dangers unnecessarily.

Deposit

The size of the load determines where the materials will be deposited. Areas of the recycling plant are designated for paper, aluminum, steel, and other materials that arrive in bulk.

Separation

Recycling that is brought in by individuals is separated by hand when the person delivers the material to the recycling plant. Small industrial recycling waste is sorted at a weighing station and directed to the proper area of the plant for that material.

Recycling from homes goes through a much more elaborate process. Materials are separated from machines into useable materials and materials that cannot be used. The final inspection must be done by hand.

Paper, aluminum cans, steel cans, electrical wire, motors, and any material that can be recycled are segregated into areas of the recycling plant for holding. Containers are designated for each type of material so that moving large quantities is safe and efficient.

Processing

Paper, aluminum cans, steel, plastics, wire, and some electronics are processed with machinery to make the material more compact for shipping. Aluminum cans are shredded into very small pieces and squashed into blocks that can weigh a few tons. Paper is compacted in presses. The idea is to be able to deliver as much material as possible in one vehicle. This makes the recycling plant more profitable.

Transport

The compacted material and the materials that cannot be compacted are prepared for shipment. The recycling plant has a contract with a trucking company or with the company that buys the material to transport the recycling to its final destination. Aluminum companies buy the aluminum cans and use them to make new aluminum cans. Paper is reused as well.

What goes on in a recycling plant is a complex and intricate endeavor. The skills required include metallurgy, an understanding of the law, and a high degree of customer relations skills. Mechanics with specialized training are required to work with unique equipment.

You can find a recycling center close to you here.

These days, Halloween has become a bit of a nightmare for the environment. In Vancouver, People are not getting scared of witches and ghosts anymore. Rather the economy and environment are the frightening issues causing the event to be pretty scary.

In fact, anything that lacks the use of some sort of chemical-based industrial components would be considered un-festive. But there is no need to celebrate the eve of All Saints’ Day under artificial conditions. The best way to balance out this bad environmental karma is to do away with those costumes that are made with all sorts of non-recyclable, unsustainable materials.

If you are looking to go all natural this time and you desire to make an environmental statement for your trick-or-treating event in Vancouver, here are five (5) environmentally friendly Halloween costumes you may want to consider.

Mother Nature

When it comes to explaining nature through dressing, there are lots of great ideas to choose from. Basically, you are dressing to reflect the elements of nature and the beauty that lies within. Gather some natural materials such as flowers, pinecones, vines, and leaves to make a necklace or a wreath while you find so earth-colored clothes to put on. Interestingly, aside from clothing, you can reflect the naturalistic nature of life via hairstyles and makeup with natural items like bones, stones, cowries, shells, and every other natural object you can think of.

Greenwashing

One fun way to dress for Halloween is by showcasing greenwashing. All you need to do is to get totally dressed in green and take along some cleaning supplies with you such as a scrub brush, a bucket, and a sponge. It’s easy to put such a clever costume together. You will surely get people talking whenever you show up in such costume.

Captain Planet

Let people know more about the importance of caring for the environment by the way you dress for Halloween. It was for this purpose that Captain Planet was created in the early 1990s by Ted Turner. All you need to wear is a red superhero suit and color your hair green and your skin blue.

Vampire Energy

Borrow a vampire cape from a friend or purchase one at a thrift store. Get some handled device chargers or electrical cords and drape them around your waist or shoulders to portray the outlook of energy vampires. Remember to wear vampire fangs and slick back your hair.

Global Warming

Find some construction paper, fabric or felt and use them to make continent shapes. Color them in green and pin them to your blue clothes. Complain about the hot climate while you use your handkerchief to wipe your sweaty brow.

For more costume ideas click here.

In cities outside of the Lower Mainland, most mattresses aren’t recycled, and end up in landfills. But did you know that old beds, even if they seem like junk to you, can have interesting uses for them? This blog post will suggest several ideas for how to use your old bed in new, creative ways. Who knows, you could even turn your old bed into something new!

1. Give the mattress away to someone who needs it.

One of the easiest way to avoid landfilling your old mattress is by giving it away. We recommend only doing this for mattresses that are clean. You’d be surprised to see who would pick your old bed up. Speak with friends, coworkers, community members, or even ask your local college or university with dorms to pass on the word that you have an old bed to give away.

Often, we throw away mattresses long before they should be discarded. Some two-sided mattresses can even be, in fact, used longer just by flipping it over! As a general rule, a mattress, kept in good condition, can be used for up to 8 to 10 years before replacing. If you find yourself replacing one before the time is up, consider giving it away to someone who needs it.

2. Upcycle an old crib frame.

For every new family with children, there’s bound to be a crib lying around somewhere at home. If you find yourself with an unused crib, there are several ways to repurpose it for reuse. This way, you can avoid dumping the frame in a landfill.

Some ways to upcycle it:

– Turn the crib frame into a wall shelf to hang your odds and ends

– Use the frame as a picture display case over your office desk

– Convert your crib rails into behind-the-closet-door organizers

It’s super easy to turn an old crib frame into a ‘Reminder Wall’ for a home office. Clip notes, photos, reminders, and coupons on the frame.

3. Build a Bird Nest out of Bed Springs.

Did you know that bed springs can look and feel cozy for nesting birds? If you have a backyard with trees in your home, consider bundling bed springs into cozy nests for birds in your backyard. Mattresses also have other materials that can be inviting for birds, such as foam and polyester filling. Once birds nest in your backyard, you’ll get to enjoy the chirping sounds of joy from these little nesters.

 

4. Turn bed springs into trellis for your garden.

As your children outgrow their cribs, consider turning the springs from the crib mattress into trellis for your garden. This way, you can save money from buying trellis from your local garden store. The springs can be supported with the help of a wooden stake. The stake could also be fashioned out of a wooden mattress frame if you have the tools to make one.

 

5. Compost your mattress.

What many people don’t realize is that if you take a mattress apart, there are many materials in them that can be composted in your own home. It might sound odd to strip it apart in your home, but consider this if there isn’t a sustainable disposal option in your area – such as a mattress recycler. If you find yourself in this situation, you can easily compost polyester filling, foam, and other materials such as the bed frame if it is made out of wood or fabric.

Conclusion

In conclusion, any of your old junk, such as mattresses, can become someone else’s treasures. It can too be reused in your home for a variety of purposes, including decor or for gardening. We hope these tips give you inspiration. Who knows – after this, you may never see your bed the same way again!

Let us know on Facebook and Twitter what interesting ways you’ve reused an old mattress.

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Canadian Mattress Recycling Inc. is a recycling centre located on Annacis Island, Delta BC. Since 2011, we have helped Metro Vancouver residents recycle over 25 million lbs of mattresses and furniture. We have also supported over 90+ organizations through donations and our blogging efforts. Read about the other organizations we have supported in the past.