Over the last few months we’ve been delivering new locking, wheeled garbage and organics carts across the district.
The new carts replace old containers distributed well over 25 years ago and they bring with them a number of benefits: in addition to improving the health and safety of our workers, the carts are less accessible to wildlife and bring us one step closer to achieving Metro Vancouver’s regional goal of recycling 80 per cent of our waste by 2020.
If you live in the Deep Cove or Seymour areas you’ll receive your carts later this fall. Prior to the delivery of your carts, I thought I would share with you information about the new program, and provide answers to some of the more common questions we’ve been asked.
Begin using your carts as soon as you receive them. And when placing your carts curbside, please make sure the wheels and handles face the road, and that they are unlocked, with locking mechanism clipped to the lid handles.
Our new system is semi-automated and proper cart placement is key to ensuring efficient collection. Your collection day remains the same, and please continue placing your carts and recycling out as usual between 5:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m.
Rolling out the new cart program gave us an opportunity to change the order of collection: organics will be collected before your garbage which helps us reduce the amount of time animal attractants are sitting curbside.
When it comes to your new carts you do have some choices. All single family homes will receive two 240-litre carts: one each for garbage and organics.
Townhomes will receive 140-litre carts for garbage and organics. If you decide that your carts are too big or too small to suit your needs, you may opt for a different sized cart; contact us after Dec. 18 to request a cart exchange.
You may request a change to a 140- or 240-litre garbage or organics cart, and you can also request an additional organics cart. There are financial incentives for selecting the smaller garbage cart (there will be a $40 reduction in your yearly utility fee) and there is no cost for having one additional organics cart.
It’s important to note that the district is not reducing the amount of service you receive. Under the old system you were allowed to put out 160 litres of garbage and 460 litres of yard waste/organics weekly: the new system provides for up to 240 litres of garbage and 480 litres of yard waste/organics weekly.
Many folks are also wondering if they may continue to use yard trimmings bags. The answer is yes. You may continue to use yard trimmings bags to collect your garden waste, but those bags must be placed inside your organics cart for collection. Paper yard bags are a mess for our crews to handle when the weather turns wet. Inside the carts they will be protected from falling apart.
And finally, the new carts are fitted with a locking mechanism that will make them much more wildlife resistant than our previous containers. The new carts are just that – wildlife resistant, they are not wildlife proof. Nothing is.
We live in bear territory and it is up to all of us to be vigilant with our food scraps to prevent wildlife interactions. Wrapping particularly odorous materials in newspaper and freezing them until collection day is a good way to avoid attracting curious creatures, as is layering your kitchens scraps and your yard trimmings.
All these steps help reduce the likelihood of attracting wildlife to your carts. When possible, we also ask that you keep your carts inside a shed or a garage between collection dates.
Once delivery of the new carts is complete, staff will be coming around to collect and recycle any old garbage and organics containers you no longer need. We will be in touch with more information as soon as it is available. Alternatively, you may want to consider giving your old bins a good scrubbing and use them to store emergency preparedness materials for your family.
Anytime a new program is implemented that impacts all our residents there are bound to be questions and, at times, concerns. If you have any comments or concerns you’d like to share please contact us at 604-990-2311.
For many more details on the new cart program including how-to videos, please visit dnv.org/carts.
