Success Stories

We've made it through almost eight weeks of our challenge now. Things have been going quite well for us, and we've been encouraged by the response to this project. Following my interview with CBC in mid-July, I had opportunity to speak with Canada AM about our challenge. It was nice to be able to share our project with more people outside our region. While it was a few weeks ago, I haven't had the opportunity to post it until now. If you would like to see the interview you can find it on the Canada AM website.

My favourite part of this challenge so far has been to hear about how other people are challenging themselves to reduce the amount of trash they set out at the curb. One friend found and purchased reusable mesh produce bags at Zehrs. This is a great way to reduce some of the soft plastic coming into your house. I've also had a number of people tell me that they've started using their green bins because they were inspired by our project. One person even wrote that she doesn't have roadside pick up because of the layout of her townhouse complex, but after speaking with the Region and a neighbour that she's now setting out a green bin at that neighbour's house who does get roadside pick up. Wow, that's amazing commitment to waste reduction! 

For me, these stories are ultimately what make our challenge a success. While we still believe we can succeed at our one bag challenge, we may not. And at the end of the day, keeping 51 small bags of garbage from one family out of the landfill for one year will only make a small impact. However, if we can inspire 10 families to work to reduce their waste to one bag every other week, then we've kept 260 bags out of the landfill. And if those families can inspire 10 families... well, you get the idea. 

Thank you to everyone who has shared their waste reduction strategies with us. We love to hear your ideas, and I will share some more of our waste reduction ideas in a future post.