It could be time to trash Greater Victoria’s iconic blue box, some local officials say.
With so many different materials being separated out of garbage, it would make more sense to move to wheeled totes rather than wrestling blue boxes and bags to the curb every second week, Victoria Coun Geoff Young told members of the Capital Regional District’s environmental services committee Wednesday.
“We have to begin to address this issue,” Young said, noting that Victoria has moved to separate wheeled totes for garbage and food scraps.
“I can tell you I would far rather have another couple of totes to put my newspapers and containers in and wheel them out to the curb rather than sort of collecting them in the various containers — the bags, the blue boxes and auxiliary boxes that I have to use.”
Young acknowledged that cost is a factor but said wheeled totes should still be considered.
Several committee members agreed.
Langford Coun. Denise Blackwell said she had just fielded a couple of residents’ complaints about having to haul blue boxes and bags up and down hills to the roadside.
Better containers are needed, especially to keep paper from blowing away, she said. “The paper blows all over the place and that’s one of the biggest things we’ve got in there,” Blackwell said. “So I think the time has come to abandon the little tiny blue boxes and the blue bags.”
Colwood Coun. Cynthia Day said her household would definitely consider purchasing a blue tote if it were allowed.
The new requirement that glass be in a separate container makes that one considerably heavier, which can be a problem — especially for people with a disability, she said.
It’s important the recycling program be as convenient as possible for householders, said Day.
“Be careful what you wish for,” said Central Saanich Mayor Ryan Windsor, who warned that recycling totes could become de facto garbage bins.
That’s how a recycling tote was treated years ago when he lived at an apartment complex.
“Everyone threw everything into a blue bin because it was convenient,” Windsor said.
“It puts us back into that stream of out of sight, out of mind. If we’ve put it in a blue box, we’ve assuaged our guilt because the colour of the container is the correct one and someone will magically deal with the materials in it.”
Blue-box recycling began in 1989 in Oak Bay, Saanich, Victoria and Esquimalt with glass bottles and jars, tin and aluminum cans and newspaper being collected.
Over the years, the types of materials collected have steadily expanded. Items picked up now include mixed paper, corrugated cardboard and rigid plastic containers.
Young said the region could also consider requiring clear plastic garbage bags, should an upcoming examination of the waste stream discover too many banned materials.
