sustainability – Waste Free Edmonton

May 11, 2023May 9, 2023

Yard Waste or Yard Resource? Managing Yards in Edmonton

According to the calendar, spring began on March 20. According to our waste collection calendar, spring started on April 2, as food scraps carts can be set out every week. The next few months are busy for Edmontonians as we prepare our yards and gardens for the growing season. The City steps in to help you deal with your yard waste in a few different ways. But what do those solutions look like, and are there other options?

WHAT IS YARD WASTE AND WHAT HAPPENS TO IT?

Many people reading this article might argue that yard waste isn’t waste at all. It is a valuable resource that provides our yards and gardens with a source of nutrients.

The most basic definition of yard waste is the one that probably comes to the front of your mind when you hear the phrase. It includes such items as: branches, leaves, fallen fruit, grass, and other plant material from your garden. The City’s definition for collection does not include kitchen or animal waste, tree stumps or trunks. There are other means of disposing of those items, which we will get to later.

Yard waste is picked up twice in the spring (and twice in the fall) on a designated Monday. Download the WasteWise app or refer to your printed calendar for your neighbourhood’s dates. This separate collection of yard waste four times a year allows the city “to create clean, high-quality compost, while keeping more waste out of the landfill” (source). This compost is available for residents to pick up for free from the Ambleside and Kennedale Eco Stations starting in May.

If you choose to put your yard waste into your backyard compost bin, or have a dedicated area in your backyard to allow it to break down you can provide a welcome habitat to beneficial insects, birds, and other animals. It’s also important to remember to give those insects some extra time to wake up and embrace spring before you collect the leaves and branches for disposal (source).

WHY BOTHER SORTING OUR YARD WASTE?

Sorting our yard material into a separate stream allows for many benefits to be reaped by Edmontonians and our environment. “Landfills emit greenhouse gases from the anaerobic decomposition of biodegradable waste” (source). These greenhouse gases are a concern because they contribute to the overall warming of our planet, which in turn has a cascading effect on all of Earth’s systems, and can lead to “extreme weather, wildfires, droughts and food supply disruptions” (source) All of which has an outsized effect on us. Diverting food and yard waste prevents these harmful emissions, frees up landfill space for non-recyclable material, and extends the lifespan of our landfill.

There are added financial benefits of composting, such as reduced landfilling costs and generating income by selling the finished material (source). And when considered in the lens of a circular system, it makes no sense to throw away nutrient rich plant matter when we can compost it and continue to access those benefits, instead of locking them away in a landfill. For example, this high quality finished product is available to all Edmontonians free of charge. There are currently no size limitations on the amount of compost you can collect at the Ambleside and Kennedale Eco Stations. The financial incentive isn’t just for municipalities and businesses either. By using compost created by yard waste, you won’t have to buy expensive fertilizers or soil additives for your own yard or garden.

HOW TO SORT OUR YARD WASTE

Sorting your yard waste properly for collection takes a bit of time, but it’s well worth the effort. It’s important that we sort our yard waste appropriately because it is collected by hand. Safety of the great humans who do our waste collection must be kept top of mind. The City has a great list of tips here to help you sort your yard waste properly if you are putting it out for spring collection. See-through plastic or double-ply paper bags are the only types of bags accepted. For sticks and branches, they must be tied in bundles less than 1.2 metres and 0.75 metres in diameter. Please ensure that everything is secured tightly. There is no bag or bundle limit.

If you have some of those items mentioned above that cannot go in the yard waste collection – kitchen waste, tree stumps – there are still alternatives for safe disposal. Tree stumps and trunks can be disposed of at any Edmonton Eco Station throughout the season. And Eco Stations always accept residential yard waste if you don’t want to wait for your collection day – here is a list of locations. Animal waste and kitchen waste should go into your food scraps cart (unless otherwise indicated). And general yard waste items can go into your food scraps cart at any point during the season, as long as it fits those collection guidelines (size, for example). If placed in your food scraps cart, it will only be collected on normal collection days.

HOW DOES EDMONTON COMPARE TO OTHER MUNICIPALITIES

Edmonton’s current solution to yard waste works for us now. But are there better ideas out there? We looked at how other municipalities in Canada manage yard waste, and how Edmonton’s process compares. Our rival neighbour to the south has a similar system to ours, making use of both a food scraps cart and bags, however Calgary reserves the right to not collect all the bags you have left out if it is excessive (source). Red Deer once again has a similar system to Edmonton, however, they do not allow plastic bags as they are not compostable (source). The Government of Alberta Yard Waste Diversion Committee’s recommendations for reducing leaf and yard waste in Alberta might explain a lot of the similarities in the yard waste collection within Alberta municipalities. Size, climate, and current waste management systems also play a large role. Regina does not have curbside organics collection, so they instead operate a yard waste depot that is open spring through fall where residents can drop off leaves free of charge (source). Even farther east, we have Halifax where there are additional green cart pickup days starting in July (source). Residents can leave yard waste like leaves and branches out on collection day, but the City will not collect grass clippings and instead recommends you grasscycle those while mowing. Finally, we looked at Vancouver, whose “seasonal leaf collection program” runs from autumn into January. Otherwise you can put leaves into your Green Bin year round (source).

With this cursory exploration, we see that Edmonton is not an outlier in how our city manages the yard waste generated by residential households. While there is probably more we could be doing – both as a city and as residents – we have at least taken the important step in addressing the importance of sorting and separately managing our yard waste. Who knows what the future will bring with new technologies, new knowledge, citizen-led action paving the way for better solutions.

LET’S KEEP TALKING

We have all seen the house with two dozen orange plastic bags at the end of their driveway in the spring. Or the black bin overflowing with grass clippings. Why might people not put their yard waste into their food scraps cart? It is often a lack of knowledge or information about the yard waste program in edmonton. Many people might experience other barriers to adding their yard waste to their food scraps cart, such as mobility or accessibility concerns while navigating heavy materials up into the bin. We must strive to understand the barriers to folks not composting their yard waste, or not leaving their grass clippings on their lawn after mowing so we can continue the education in the right direction and get more people on board with this valued program. Beyond the education component is a culture shift. People must not only understand the importance of composting these materials, but also buy into a market for designing lower waste yardscapes and purchasing the products that are the end result of a yard waste compost program (source).

It’s important that we all start thinking of yard waste not only as a part of a waste cycle, but as a resource as well. So that “the negative environmental impacts of its disposal in landfills will be reduced or eliminated” (source). The more we talk with our neighbours and community about our yard waste, the more we can normalize alternatives to lawns and monocultures.

TAKE ACTION

We can all do our parts in ensuring that natural materials from our yards are sorted properly for pickup from the City of Edmonton. But here are some ideas if you want to make better use of this excellent resource!

Low effort:

Leave your grass clippings in place after you mow (More info on grasscycling here)
Use the high quality compost produced by the City from our yard waste

Mid effort:

Add your yard waste to your own backyard compost bin or to a separate spot in your yard to break down on its own and provide habitat to birds and bugs

Max effort:

Build a hugelkultur bed using twigs and branches
Change the landscaping design of your yard to feature less grass and more native species

A Straight Line to a Circular Economy

“Climate change is not the problem. Climate change is the most horrible symptom of an economic system that has been built for a few to extract every precious ounce of value out of this planet and its people, from our natural resources to the fruits of our human labour. This system has created this crisis.”
Colette Pichon Battle. “An Offering the From the Bayou.” All We Can Save: Truth Courage And Solutions For The Climate Crisis. Edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson & Katharine K. Wilkinson.

Waste Reduction Week Canada has extended from one week in October to the entire month, with a dedicated focus on the circular economy. The concept of a circular economy has been around for over 10 years, but the vocabulary is just starting to make its way into the general public. There are many governments and businesses advocating for a turn to the circular economy. But there are also many climate justice workers and academics that are sounding the alarm about the pitfalls and problems associated with it. In this article we will define the circular economy and then explore some of its benefits, barriers to implementation, and problems identified with it. Then list some actions you can take in your communities to help work toward a just transition.

Even if you have never heard the term “circular economy”, you can probably start to imagine a basic definition, especially when applied to the climate crisis. As defined by Waste Reduction Week Canada, circularity “incorporates better design that consumes less raw material during production, maximizes value during use, and improves products and services that are intended to eliminate wastes.” (Source) At its core, the circular economy is an economic framework that is meant to be overlaid with our current economic system. It replaces the linear model of product generation which creates products that have a limited lifespan before becoming waste. Recognizing that there are limited resources on our planet, a circular economy attempts to make the best use of those resources, while positively impacting business growth. It aims to do so with a focus placed on sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products. (Source)

In a circular economy more attention is paid to everything that goes into the cycle (like materials and energy), to ensure that as little as possible comes out as waste. As advertised, some of its benefits would include:

Manufactured items will last longer
Eliminating planned obsolescence
Prioritizing access over ownership
Creating items that are easier to repair
Less greenhouse gas production and less waste in general

Of course this is only a short list, and there are as many advertised benefits as there are cities and companies working toward full implementation of a circular economy! As with any economic based solution to humanity’s current crisis, there are also strong voices addressing the barriers and speaking out against the implementation of a circular economy as it is currently defined.

Libraries and book exchanges are familiar examples of circular economies.

CRITICISMS OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

As politicians, business, and researchers advocate for moving to a circular economy, there are other voices engaging in critical discourse around these purported benefits. Concerns raised include barriers to a full implementation of a circular economy, missed opportunities, and holes that could prevent us from reaching our full potential as humans and not just as consumers.

A core building block of the CE is the recyclability and reuse of products and materials. Unfortunately, some recycled materials degrade faster the more times they are recycled and many hazardous materials cannot be safely recycled or reused at all. (Source) How can we balance our goals of sustainability with the reality of the products we rely on to achieve those goals?

Reuse and recycle is a subject that is easy to simplify for regular folks to understand, while remaining complex at its root. The same can be said for jobs. We hear news everyday about job losses and gains, and we have seen first hand during the pandemic how unstable many of our traditional jobs are. The reason for job losses is always blamed on “the economy”. But how can we use a new economic framework to ensure that we have quality, local jobs. The circular economy does mention job creation, but unfortunately fails to demand good jobs, or mandate that they be created locally using culturally appropriate technologies (Source). In fact, there are many opportunities for job creation while transitioning to a circular economy. Much of the technology and infrastructure we will require to recycle and repurpose materials has not reached the scale demanded of the speed we must be moving to reach our climate goals. The current lack of infrastructure in many communities poses a problem to full implementation of a circular economy (source), but offers great opportunities to create long-term, good, local jobs. This must be addressed head on when building out the circular economy standards. In fact, there is not yet any international recognized standardisation with regards to circularity performance (source), another point made by critics.

These standards must include social justice and social equity, and the writing on circular economy implementation does not reflect that. In fact, many examples of the ways governments can enact a circular economy do not mention social equity or social justice at all. They are primarily focused on environmental and business outcomes. If we want there to be social equity in our new economic system we must name it, and demand it. We cannot assume that it will just materialize while we work on our waste reduction goals. Failing this, we will continue to see “abuses of power, unhealthy or unfair labour and living conditions or a disrespect of human rights” (Source)

Doughnut Economics offers an alternative to a circular economy that has those social factors built directly into the framework. Where the circular economy focused on the lifecycle of products, Kate Rawroth’s playful Doughnut directly names social and planetary boundaries, and “acts as a compass for human progress this century”. (Source) This framework is already in play in many municipalities around the world to the great benefit of those citizens and residents.

While there are many concerns to implementing a circular economy worldwide – or even in our communities – there are many benefits offered as well. Currently, the circular economy offers an interesting framework for improving environmental and business sustainability, but lacks strength in the social field. If governments around the world continue to push for a circular economy, we will need to overcome the barriers to implementation, balance the environmental and business objectives, and more clearly define the social demands. And prioritize those. There are sustainable solutions offered within other frameworks – like the Doughnut Economy – and many researchers working on balancing the circular economy. While we work toward reducing humanity’s negative impact toward our continued survival, we will need to take advantage of all the tools available. Perhaps the final solution will involve the great parts of the circular economy working alongside other ideas. And will facilitate all of humanity working together to ensure we achieve sustainable – and equitable – futures for everyone.

Thrifting is a great example or circularity – does the world need more spoons?

TAKE ACTION

Here at Waste Free Edmonton, we have focused our attention on local waste reduction efforts. And lately, the City of Edmonton has taken some steps toward implementing a circular economy (Single Use Item Bylaw). Here are some actions you can take at home and as a citizen, keeping in mind that choices aren’t easy to make for some families. The symptoms of climate change cannot be fixed on the individual level, which is why we need systems change to make sure everyone has equal access to those choices.

SHARE this pdf explaining Edmonton’s Single Use Item Bylaw with friends, family and coworkers in Edmonton. Discuss why you are excited about the bylaw, and which aspects might be difficult for others in our community.

SEND an email to your Member of Parliament sharing why you are in favour of going beyond a “plastics ban” and implementing a nation wide single use item ban.

ASK your manager what your company is doing to eliminate waste throughout all internal processes. (Or maybe you are the decision maker and can address this directly!)

BORROW a tool the next time you need one from the Edmonton Tool Library, buy a refurbished phone, or check out the Reuse Centre for craft or party supplies.

SIGN this petition hosted by Open Media to demand the federal government stop stalling on broad Right to Repair legislation.

If you have any ideas for our readers on other actions they can take at home or in their communities, please leave them in the Comments!

Single-Use Items Go Beyond Plastic

“Every single-use item, regardless of what it is made of, carries an environmental cost.” (Source). According to the City itself, this is one of the main reasons they are not specifically singling out plastics in the SUI bylaw. Simply replacing plastic with other items – such as paper, bamboo, or metal – ignores the very serious amount of waste generated in our city every year. According to the City’s estimates, Edmontonians throw out 450 million single use items every year (Source). By expanding the scope of the bylaw beyond plastics, we also have the opportunity to expand the creative long-term solutions.

It is understandable why folks have questions about including non-plastic items, or are skeptical about the ability of a bylaw such as this to table our waste problem. Business owners are concerned about their bottom line, their employees safety, and their customers’ satisfaction. City dwellers wonder how this will impact their trips to the grocery store, meeting friends for lunch, and their already tight monthly budget. Single-use plastic is something many of us recognize and understand already, but adding in all single-use items can feel overwhelming. Looking at the big picture – why the City is pursuing this – can help place ourselves within that big picture. And help us work on pursuing those goals as a community.

The City of Edmonton offers three reasons it is moving beyond plastics: (Source)

Greenhouse gas emissions throughout the items’ lifecycles
Landfill space
Degrading natural habitat if these items become litter

By looking at the larger impacts of single-use items on the climate crisis, and how the City fits into the global system as a whole, they could easily add the following:

Garbage is garbage, no matter the material
Waste of resources
Help to create a circular economy

Let’s examine each in turn, and explore not only the importance of a more holistic approach, but the positive opportunities offered thanks to these efforts.

Most folks understand that we live on a finite planet, with finite resources. But it is perhaps less common knowledge that we can put a number on that. Humans use 73% more resources per year than the Earth produces. (source) The way our modern lives have been structured often favour ease over consideration. All single-use items carry an energy price tag. This includes greenhouse gas emissions, which often show up throughout their life cycles. In order to cut out those greenhouse gases, or at least dramatically reduce them, we must make (and be offered) better choices.

Take reusables for example. These single-use item stand-ins still take resources to produce and distribute, but they are designed to have a longer life span. And many are also designed to be easier to recycle or repurpose as well, a metal or glass food container for example. Single-use item bylaws can encourage swaps to those items, and if the restrictions are limited to plastic only, a lot of innovative products – and waste reduction – would be missed.

If we look at all single-use items as a waste of resources, a holistic bylaw encourages use of our finite resources in a way that best serves everyone in the long-run.

While looking at these items as a waste of resources, we must also zoom out and consider our land a resource as well. Landfill space is at a premium. (read more on that here) An item that is designed to be, or at least perceived to be used only once (regardless of the material), automatically takes up this valuable space as soon as it is produced. Replacing plastic waste with bamboo, paper, or bio-plastics without addressing the single-use aspect of those items ignores this reality.

When it comes to taking up space in a landfill or degrading natural habits as litter, all single-use items are created equal. We often hear that plastic is “bad” and are encouraged to focus our attention on reducing plastic waste to the exclusion of other waste. It gets the most press! While this is absolutely true, plastic is also a really useful material. It’s when we treat it as “cheap” and disposable that we run into trouble.

Many companies have been replacing their unrecyclable, non-reusable to-go containers with other materials, and there is merit to this. This represents only some of the amazing creativity being used to build smarter SUI in terms of materials, energy usage, means of production, local sourcing, etc. We need that creativity, especially as it offers opportunities for wider solutions, and used in concert with a SUI Bylaw, it can have a huge impact. A bylaw targeting all SUI encourages consumers and producers of these items to refocus on mindset toward what we need, and what we will actually use. It can empower us to say “no” and gives consumers and businesses a chance to examine their “garbage shadow”. (Click here for info on a climate shadow).

So we have finite resources, plus we’re using up those precious resources to make and store more garbage. An obvious solution is at hand: the circular economy! A Circular Economy is a systems solution framework that looks to eliminate waste, circulate materials, and regenerate nature. A Circular Economy must look at all areas of output and input, not only plastic. Will Edmonton be creating a Circular Economy with this bylaw? No. But it is taking an important step in this direction and helping to ensure we are more climate resilient in the process.

TAKE ACTION

It can be difficult to know the challenges folks might face once this bylaw comes into effect. But we can try to anticipate some common ones, and make plans today to ensure success in our communities.

Talk about the bylaw with friends, family, and neighbours. The City of Edmonton has created a single page PDF that has a lot of easy to digest information packed into it. Share this, but also share your personal hopes about the bylaw and also what has you worried. “Talking about climate change is the best way to combat it.” (Katherine Hayhoe)
Evaluate where your family unit might struggle with the new bylaw, and start preparing now. For example, by purchasing reusables now as you can afford them and leaving them in the spaces where they will get used most (the trunk of your car, your bicycle basket, etc.).

Maybe you are an entrepreneur who sees the vast opportunities with this type of holistic bylaw targeting our single use waste. There are many places in the world that offer reusable programs at restaurants (in Victoria, B.C. for example) or coffee shops. Imagine the possibilities in Edmonton and start planning!

June 21, 2022June 21, 2022

Learning About Linen

Today we’re talking about linen, which comes from the flax plant Linum usitatissimum. Flax is one of the oldest documented textile fibres, dating back tens of thousands of years. The term linen comes from the genus of the flax plant Linum, and is what you’ll see most often on Canadian fibre content labels. The vast majority of the world’s linen, about 80%, comes from Europe, France in particular. Linen represents less than 1% of all textile fibres used worldwide, however.

Linen is a bast fibre, which means it comes from the stem of the plant, just under the surface. The fibres are embedded in woody plant tissues, pectins, and waxes, so the stems must go through retting (controlled microbial degradation) to free the fibres.

Linen is mostly used in bed, table, and bath items (“linens”) in the home, for warm weather apparel, and can also be used in composites for building materials!

Pros:

Many people love linen’s appearance (lustre, slubby texture)
Strong, and highly absorbent, and dries faster than cotton
Cool to the touch, great for warm weather clothing

Cons:

It wrinkles like, instantly 😂 (we call this poor resilience)
Doesn’t have any stretch, can feel stiff/crisp
Can feel quite heavy

In terms of sustainability, linen is fabulous! In fact, @madebyorg gives organic linen an A rating on their environmental benchmark guideline. Organic linen and hemp (also a bast fibre), are the only non-recycled fibres given that rating! Conventional linen and cotton are rated C and E, respectively, for comparison. One reason for this is the relatively low energy intensity of processing the fibre (e.g. retting naturally in the field), and very little need for fertilizers or pesticides.

Because linen isn’t as troublesome as some fibres, and due to its very small market share, there isn’t a lot of information available on current developments happening in this area. The main area of focus appears to be focused on the breeding and cultivation of “climate-smart” flax in response to climate change.

So! If you need some summer clothes, give linen a try! It’s great for warm weather and has a lower environmental impact than most other fibre types, especially when it’s organic. Just call the wrinkles a design feature 😉

Sources:

Kadolph, S. J. & Marcketti, S. B., (2017). Textiles (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
https://news.europeanflax.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZrZZefkohE
https://goodonyou.eco/made-by-environmental-benchmark-for-fibres/
Shivaraj, S.M., Dhakate, P., Sonah, H., Vuong, T., Nguyen, H.T., Deshmukh, R. (2019). Progress Toward Development of Climate-Smart Flax: A Perspective on Omics-Assisted Breeding. In: Kole, C. (eds) Genomic Designing of Climate-Smart Oilseed Crops. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93536-2_5

May 3, 2022May 10, 2022

Wool: Shearly Versatile And Sustainable

Today we’re talking about the next fibre in our series, wool. To put it simply, wool is basically sheep hair, and is actually similar to human hair in many ways! Wool is made of a protein called keratin, and the outer surface is covered with protective scales. Australia is the world’s largest producer of wool, followed by China, Russia, New Zealand, Argentina, South Africa, the UK and Uruguay.

Wool was once very popular, but is now one of the least used textile fibres. This is primarily due to cost, as other fibres are much less expensive; wool is often blended or substituted with acrylic, polyester, or nylon to reduce cost. Wool is mostly used in winter apparel and accessories such as toques, mitts and sweaters, and in next-to-skin items like baselayers and socks for its thermal and moisture management properties. Wool is also still used in high-end carpeting due to its resilience. Here are some quick facts about wool:

Pros:
- Very resilient/durable, and warm!
- Can absorb 1/3 of its weight in moisture vapour without feeling wet
- Doesn’t hold on to body odour, can be worn multiple times between washes

Cons:
- Vulnerable to clothes moth damage
- Can be itchy due to the surface scales. Finer varieties like merino are more comfortable
- Can be difficult to wash – the scales can interlock and cause felting shrinkage
- Machine washable wool (superwash) is treated with the chlorine hercosett process, which could have a negative impact on the environment
- Wool comes from livestock, so humane treatment is important. The practice of mulesing is often used in regions where parasitic insects can infect the sheep
- Like cattle, sheep produce methane which is a potent greenhouse gas. Love Your Clothes rates virgin wool fibres as “Class E” (the lowest) on their environmental benchmarking chart.

Despite the drawbacks, wool is a great fibre for certain needs, and is very popular with fibre crafters and artists. But as we know, textile and clothing production generates tremendous amounts of waste. What is being done to reduce the waste generated by wool production? Here are some techniques, methods, and ways to make wool production more sustainable for both sheep and the planet.

Responsible Wool Standard

RWS is a voluntary Textile Exchange standard which recognizes the Five Freedoms of sheep, and farmers with a progressive approach to land management.
The Five Freedoms include freedom from: hunger or thirst, discomfort, pain, injury or disease, fear and distress, and the freedom to express normal behaviour.
Clothing certified to RWS will be labelled as such on the company’s website, in-store, and/or on garment labels.

Regenerative wool

This approach to wool production has been gaining traction, and is used by Sheep Inc.
Last year, Allbirds, Icebreaker, and Smartwool announced their plans to collaborate and support the Discover ZQ ZQRX regenerative wool index, a tool for farmers to embrace and improve their techniques.
Regenerative farming is a holistic approach, prioritising biodiversity, soil health, and bio-sequestration of carbon. Rotational grazing allows farmers to find a balance between fertilization and waste management, feeding livestock, maintaining plant growth, and reducing soil erosion.

Processing

While the chlorine hercosett process is the most widely used superwash treatment, alternatives are available.
Plasma treatments, as used by Südwolle Group, use an electrically-generated plasma field to even out the fibre surface, but can cause damage to the fibre if not careful.
Other treatments include ozone, enzyme, radiation, and others. Each have their own pros and cons – you can read about them in more detail by seeing our reference list on the blog
It’s also possible to use untreated wool! For crafters, Briggs & Little Mill is a Canadian company who doesn’t use superwash or other harsh treatments on their wool. The yarn feels a bit more “rustic” as a result, but makes great sweaters, outerwear, and mitts.

Recycled wool

This will come up again and again with all fibres, but one of the lowest impact choices you can make is to use fibre that has already been produced.
When it comes to recycling fibres there can be some concerns about which chemicals may be present in the source material, but you can still find items made with recycled fibre and certified to 3rd party standards such as OEKO-TEX.
Canadian brand Anián uses recycled natural fibres, including wool, and there are more popping up all the time!
Manteco are an Italian fabric mill who have lots of great posts about their recycled MWool® products and manufacturing process. In 2021 alone they saved over 800,000 knitted garments from landfill!

All the information above was sourced from the references below, and we hope you continue your interest in wool, fibres, and textile production by reading the links below!

References:

http://responsiblewool.org/
https://www.woolmark.com/environment/regenerative-agriculture/
https://sustainablebrands.com/read/supply-chain/trending-major-brands-partner-to-cultivate-regenerative-ag-supply-chains
https://www.discoverzq.com/zqrx
https://www.suedwollegroup.com/blog/machine-washable-merino-without-chlorine/
Kadolph, S. J. & Marcketti, S. B., (2017). Textiles (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Hassan, M. M., & Carr, C. M. (2019). A review of the sustainable methods in imparting shrink resistance to wool fabrics. Journal of Advanced Research, 18, 39-60.
Marino, R., Atzori, A. S., D’Andrea, M., Iovane, G., Trabalza-Marinucci, M., & Rinaldi, L. (2016). Climate change: Production performance, health issues, greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation strategies in sheep and goat farming. Small Ruminant Research, 135, 50-59.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jare.2019.01.014
https://briggsandlittle.com/tour/
https://manteco.com/mwool/

April 12, 2022April 11, 2022

Talking To Edmonton About Single-Use Items

Single-use items. This is an issue that Waste Free Edmonton has been working on since our inception. In fact, it’s one of the main reasons our founders started the non-profit organization. We have come so far in the past 4 years. It makes sense to celebrate the wins as we get them.

Celebrating wins also entails explaining them to folks in our lives who don’t have the same level of knowledge about climate change and climate actions. The vast majority of Canadians are worried about the effects of climate change, but only half of us self-report understanding of climate change, and what needs to be done to combat it (Source).

If you are reading this, we can assume that you are interested in waste and climate change. And we assume that you talk to your friends and family about those topics. We know that it can be difficult having those conversations, especially with folks who don’t have the same level of knowledge as you. We hope this short guide helps you discuss our latest local climate win: the Plan to Reduce Single-use Items and its bylaw.

Leave Space

Nobody wants to hear a lecture, unless they are paying to go to school! Come informed and ready to listen. This looks like leaving space for the other person to talk and ask questions. And make sure that you are asking questions to understand and clarify, not to respond. And especially not to denigrate their knowledge.

That being said, it’s critically important to discourage climate change denial, fossil fuel company talking points, and racism, which can often come up when discussing current (and historic) climate actions. These are healthy boundaries to set and reinforce. You might not change anyone’s mind, but you can get them thinking about single-use items and the impact they have.

Speak from personal experience

Yes, it’s important to get your facts in about the single-use item plan, but it will be more meaningful – and memorable – if you speak about your personal experience. For example, tell your friend what you are excited about, or nervous about in the new plan. Explain to your Dad how you think this plan will impact your daily life and a trick you’ll use to remember to bring your reusables from home. Share with coworkers why you believe we need a single-use item plan and what this will mean for your weekly team lunch. Connecting the single-use item plan to your daily life will encourage your friends and family to do the same. Chatting in this way allows everyone to explore how the plan will impact them, their community, or their local business, and encourages people to get ready for the bylaw to take effect. And in a larger sense, this gets everyone to start evaluating the impact their actions have on waste in our community.

Since you’re keeping it personal, don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” in response to a question or comment. Remember that you can always refer back to the City’s resources and encourage your friend to email their Councillor directly with questions.

Keep a cool head

Encouraging your friends and family to get curious about how this bylaw might affect them might bring out some strong feelings. Remember, this isn’t your plan so try not to take feedback personally. Recommend they reach out to their Councillor and Mayor if they have tough questions or comments. And if you come up against denialism, politely explain that you are not debating the proven existence of climate change.

Follow Up!

Once it’s had a few days to sink in, follow up after your conversation. Ask if they had any further questions or comments, and list any that you thought of. Send them an email including the link to the plan and a list of emails for City Councillors. Think of your own waste free journey. It probably took awhile for you to learn about waste reduction, and how to translate your knowledge into action. Patience and many conversations within our community are the keys to the success of Edmonton’s single-use item bylaw.

Food Waste: What, Why, and How to Stop It

What is food waste?

Put simply, food waste is any part of food that is not eaten. Food waste occurs throughout our food system, all the way from production, to transportation, to retail, and through to individual consumer’s fridges and pantries. As consumers we would recognize it most as food we throw away after we purchase it. Common food waste in the home includes:

Food that spoils before we eat it
Food scraps that we cannot use or choose not to use
Overportioned cooked food (aka “leftovers”) that isn’t eaten

As food waste happens at every stage of our food system, it should be addressed from a systemic lens, especially due to the problems it causes in relation to the climate crisis.

Why is food waste a problem?

When we consider the climate crisis, food waste is a substantial barrier to our goals to reduce our global carbon footprint. According to Project Drawdown, “one third of the food raised or prepared does not make it from farm or factory to fork” (Project Drawdown). Canada also bears responsibility for our current food waste problem – food waste costs the Canadian economy up to $100 billion dollars annually (NZWC) and the average Edmontonian’s garbage contains 22-26% food waste as of 2016 (City of Edmonton) (this stat is pre-wastecart system).

Let’s examine five problems associated with food waste:

Greenhouse Gases

Organic matter that ends up in a landfill produces methane gas. This is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, but is 21 to 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide (Change for Climate).

Monetary Cost

Consider food waste as throwing away money, and costs the average family of four approximately $1,760 annually (Change for Climate). All of the food waste that ends up in a municipality’s waste stream requires resources in staffing, facilities, transportation, etc. to dispose or divert it. This cost is passed on to utilities and then down to the citizens via taxes.

Land space

Growing food takes up a lot of land space, livestock even more so than plant-based food – up to eight times more! Landfills and other waste diversion facilities also occupy a lot of land, and are often located in marginalized or racialized communities.

Earth’s General Store (photo: MacKenzie Photography)

Waste of resources

It’s in the name! Food waste is ultimately a waste of resources. Many of those resources are scarce already, or could be used in a more positive and effective way. This includes water for irrigation (New Food Magazine), and fossil fuels for production and distribution. As we transition away from fossil fuels and work to conserve our water, we need think hard about using our resources more efficiently.

Hunger and food insecurity

4.4 million people in Canada are food insecure (Zero Food Waste). There is no logical reason for anyone to go hungry while so much food waste exists. Many food banks or mutual aid groups already exist to divert that food which would otherwise be wasted. Setting these up on a larger scale could make a huge difference to our carbon footprint, and more importantly, to people’s lives.

Food waste is a problem because the monetary cost, carbon cost, and human cost of those resources is so high. Eliminating food waste throughout the food system is a large undertaking and will take concerted efforts by all levels of government, businesses, and community groups. But the positives would be well worth the effort. Thankfully, Edmonton and many of the surrounding municipalities have already taken a big step toward diverting food waste by introducing a cart-based waste collection system.

Even more relevant to you, reader, is that food waste can easily be prevented by individuals and households by taking a few simple steps.

Grow your own food! (photo: MacKenzie Photography)

How can I prevent food waste in my home and community?

In high income countries, the majority of food waste happens at the retail and household level (Drawdown). Therefore, eliminating or slowing food waste in our homes is one of the easiest actions we can take to reduce our individual emissions and act against climate change. They may seem small, but small actions add up to big changes!

Here are EIGHT ways you can take to tackle food waste in your home and community:

Low effort:

Learn how to store your food properly to keep it fresh longer (Love Food Hate Waste)

Use the Flashfood app to help prevent food waste in your local grocery store
Donate to local food banks or organizations working toward food security (ex: Leftovers Foundation)

Mid effort:

Meal plan and make grocery lists to ensure you only buy what you know you will eat
Move towards a more plant-based diet
Save your food scraps and make DIY veggie broth

Most effort:

Set up a Little Free Pantry in your yard or community space
Volunteer at your local food bank or shelter; they divert a lot of food from grocery stores and retail stores and instead use it to help our city’s vulnerable folks (note: many food bank and community organizations have paused their volunteer opportunities due to covid-19 restrictions)
Build a backyard composter (note, composting should be used as a last resort. We know wasted food happens, and this is the next best thing to using your food.)

How To Reduce Holiday Waste With Fabric

As we head into the holidays we wanted to touch on a few ways you can reduce your textile waste this year.

According to a survey conducted by McKinsey & Company, about 20% of all annual apparel purchases are returned with one out of four apparel items returned when bought from e-commerce channels. They also report that an estimated 10% of returns end up in landfill! So, when buying for others consider purchasing secondhand or vintage garments as gifts rather than new, or support local designers or brands.

Another major source of waste during the holidays is gift wrap. Tape, plastic additives, and foil wrapping make gift wrap difficult or impossible to recycle. Zero Waste Canada estimates that Canadians throw out 540,000 tonnes of wrapping paper and gift bags each year! To cut down on this waste, Greenpeace Canada suggests using upcycled materials such as old maps, magazines, or newspapers to wrap gifts or make bows, using string instead of tape, or trying out Furoshiki wrapping, a Japanese method of wrapping items using a square piece of fabric.

Furoshiki wrapping is versatile as you can wrap a variety of different shapes that are usually difficult to do with paper gift wrap. You can purchase Furoshiki wrapping cloths or make your own out of unwearable textiles. Just keep in mind that knit fabrics such as t-shirts will have a little bit of stretch and you may need to double up the fabric for heavier items. There are plenty of online resources for how to make your own gift wrap from upcycled textiles and the various ways you can wrap using Furoshiki techniques.

Here are Mary’s Christmas gifts from a couple of years ago, all wrapped with fabric! She used a mixture of scarves, bandanas, and cloth wraps from Lush.

Fabric is just as colourful and festive as single-use wrapping paper.

December 7, 2021December 7, 2021

Global Solutions To Recycling Textiles

From a global perspective, various methods have been employed for dealing with textile waste at different scales.

The name for the “old school” method of recycling textile waste is by producing a material called shoddy, where fabric mills sell unusable fabric by weight (aka “pound goods”) to manufacturers for the creation of rags, insulation, mattress padding, etc. Post-consumer garments can be used too…You may have heard of insulation made from denim? That’s basically shoddy!

Companies like H&M, Levi’s, and The North Face collect old garments and work with a company who sorts them and decides what can be resold vs. what is essentially shoddy.

Currently circular textile solutions like fibre-to-fibre recycling through mechanical, chemical, or thermal recycling methods are in the research and development phase. Where these technologies have been developed, they are not yet used at scale.

Numerous brands are starting to create “monomaterial” products, which are made completely of one fibre, such as polyester. This would make the item easier to recycle as the components (fabrics, zippers, buttons, etc.) wouldn’t have to be separated prior to processing. One exciting example of this is the Helly Hansen Lifa Infinity Pro material, which is a waterproof, laminated fabric made entirely of polypropylene!

Several mills around the world have programs to use pre-consumer (production waste) and post-consumer (used items) textiles as inputs for their recycled content. Examples include Teijin Fabrics eco-circle (polyester), Infinited Fiber (cellulose fibres), and Worn Again (polyester, cotton, and poly/cotton blends). While they don’t usually interact directly with the general public, they would partner with brands and other textile manufacturers to process the input materials and turn them back into usable fibres.

November 23, 2021November 30, 2021

Black Friday And Fast Fashion

If you follow The Guardian, then you may have seen the alarming images of textile waste in the Atacama Desert in Chile. Earlier this month, Agence France-Presse shared photos of over 39,000 tonnes of discarded second-hand and unsold clothing that are imported and landfilled in Chile. AFP News Agency attributes this clothing waste to the fast fashion industry. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, over 100 billion garments are produced each year!

This Friday, November 26 is Black Friday, followed by Cyber Monday on November 29. @retailcouncilcanada’s 4th annual Holiday Shopping Survey 2021 states that of the 2,500 Canadian consumers surveyed, 43% plan to shop on Black Friday, with 35% planning to shop on Cyber Monday. Clothing is the top category that consumers plan to spend their money on.

So, what can you do to avoid impulse clothing purchases this year?

@cariumagreentips suggests asking yourself these five questions before making a purchase:

Do I need it?
Do I have something similar?
How often will I wear it?
Is it made to last?
Do I love it?

If the higher purchase price of a sustainably or ethically produced garment compared to fast fashion clothing is a barrier, then consider looking for deals from the retailers that you otherwise couldn’t afford on Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Think about the purchase as an investment, as higher quality garments last longer and need to be replaced less often. A trick for this is to think about the use value you will get out of a longer-lasting piece. To do this, divide the total cost by how many times you think you may use the item to justify spending the higher initial cost.

Learn about the impacts of your purchases before buying. Check out the comprehensive reading list Fashion Revolution developed for Black Friday about fast fashion production, consumption, and waste.

Photos of the Atacama Desert from @martinbernetti_photojournalist

CRITICISMS OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

TAKE ACTION

FURTHER READING AND RESOURCES

TAKE ACTION

Responsible Wool Standard

Regenerative wool

Processing

Recycled wool