The city’s green bin program has been a controversial subject since it’s introduction. Even that’s a bit of a understatement. Late last month, Auditor General Ken Hughes presented his internal audit of the handling of the city’s Orgaworld contract, which found $8 million in “unnecessary costs” paid to the company, plus $1.7 million in legal fees for the arbitration. The report’s findings revealed missing documents, lack of oversight, and “fundamental … Read more »
Carleton University computer science student Michael Lutaaya was intent on creating a practical app that was useful for the city’s residents. He had his Eureka moment when his parents mixed up their garbage day schedule during a holiday week. He developed BINS, an app you can download in the Apple’s iOS store for your iPhone or iPad. The app helps Ottawa’s residents with knowing when and what to put out … Read more »
We all use cell phones, tablets, DVD players, and desktop computers. These are just a few electronic items that we employ in our every day lives – however – have you ever thought about where these things end up when we throw them in the trash? Check out the above map to find out! Canada generated 860,000 tonnes of e-waste in 2012. Toxic chemicals in electronics products can … Read more »
The good news: The amount of curb side garbage being diverted from Ottawa landfills was more than 50 per cent for the first time in 2013. Green bin collection increased 23.6 per cent to 83,000 tonnes in 2013. You read that right. Right on! The bad news: Not all of the city’s green bin waste is being processed at Orgaworld, the chair of the environment committee announced Tuesday. Only 69,000 tonnes … Read more »
Came across this great piece late last year, concerning the diversion of the city of Ottawa’s waste from the municipal landfill. According to the piece by the Ottawa Sun’s Susan Sherring, despite the entry of the infamous — and expensive green bin — Ottawa diverts one of the lowest percentages of residential trash from the city’s landfills. The Ontario Municipal Benchmarking Initiative compares a number of different service areas, including garbage, … Read more »
Junk on earth is a problem. You know where it’s an even bigger problem? Space. Yes – that space. The space outside of our atmosphere. The huge and ever-growing cloud of debris around Earth poses a real threat to satellites and our way of life, researchers stressed this year at the 6th European Conference on Space Debris in Darmstadt, Germany. “There is a wide and strong expert consensus on the pressing need to act … Read more »
By now, Ottawa’s residents are intimately acquainted with the city’s composting program. To say that it had a rocky rollout or that it continues to be a controversial program is an understatement. The program was instituted back in 2010 when the reality set in that the city was going to have to start looking for another landfill site. Council weighed the cost of finding and operating said landfill with the … Read more »
Looking to ditch unwanted electronics? Have computers, laptops, or DVD players that you’re not using anymore? Don’t throw them away! Bring them to the Emily Carr Middle School parking lot for recycling. The money generated from recycling will go back to the Scouts program! When: Monday Nov 25 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Where: Emily Carr Middle School – 2681 Innes Road – Ottawa, Ontario – K1B 4Z7 Many people don’t realize that the … Read more »
You may or may not have heard about the City of Ottawa’s controversial agreement with Plasco Energy Group. Plasco is owned by Rod Bryden – former owner of The Ottawa Senators, and a few years back they struck a deal with the city to build a facility on vacant unused land. The Ottawa Sun has been reporting on this extensively – mostly because a city imposed deadline lapsed. Plasma gasification … Read more »
Caught this sad article on CP24 about 2 tonnes of junk that was removed from Toronto’s Humber river. The good folks at 1-800-Rid-Of-It gathered up a group of volunteers to literally remove 2 tonnes of junk from the water. To put this into perspective, the Humber River, was declared a heritage river in 1999. It runs 100 kilometres from the Niagara Escarpment to Lake Ontario. It’s not exactly a simple to … Read more »