Recycling Plastic in Waterloo Region

One of the biggest disappointments I had in my first day of research was the limits on the types of plastic bags that the Region of Waterloo recycles. This seemed like it could be the thing that derailed this challenge before it started. Plastic bags come into our house in the form of bread bags, milk bags, bags that hold produce, and bags that hold meat. As we purchase all of these things on a weekly basis, how are we going to deal with 52 weeks of them? Bread bags could be eliminated by baking our own bread. That's not a problem, as most components of bread come in recyclable or compostable containers. For bulk produce, it would be a case of finding or making mesh bags. Again, not a problem. Milk was going to be the biggest issue, along with bags that our meat comes in.

As milk cartons are recyclable in our Region, I checked out the price of carton milk versus bagged milk at the grocery store today. I was shocked to discover that a 2L carton of 1% Neilson milk was about double the price per litre as compared to a 4L bag. I personally don't drink milk, as I have a sensitivity to it, but my husband and two growing boys certainly do. We easily go through 4 litres of milk in a week, so doubling our milk bill is not an option. So, what to do with the milk bags?

My mother-in-law takes care of the outer bags for us, as she crochets them into mats to be sent overseas. Someone recommended reusing the inner milk bags for sandwich bags. That's a good idea, but for sandwiches we already use reusable containers. The bigger problem is that 52 weeks of milk bags will give us 156 milk bags in a year, and even if they are reused, they still need to be disposed of sometime! As I lamented this to Matt he said "What if we store up our bags and then take them to my parent's house? I wonder if their region recycles them". Good idea Matt! A quick look at the waste management page for Niagara Region and our plastic bag problem is solved! Not only will they recycle milk bags, but they'll also take "bread bags, dry cleaning bags, clean bubble wrap, and the plastic outer covering from items such as toilet tissue, paper towels and pop cases". Wow, I hope when the Region of Waterloo finishes revamping their Waste Management Master Plan that we too can recycle all that soft plastic!

We now seem to have a system in place for recycling most of the disposable items that we can think of. Our next step in the research process is a waste audit to find out what items we throw out that aren't recyclable or compostable at all. From there we need to figure out what can be eliminated, and then determine if the remaining could fit into a 30 gallon garbage bag for a whole year.