Edmonton Sustainability in Review - January Edition
Welcome to the January edition of Edmonton Sustainability in Review!
With a new year comes new ideas and a sense of rebirth, and that seems to be ringing true within the sustainable initiatives happening in Edmonton.
So, with this in mind, let's dive into what’s happened in the world of sustainability in the month of January in YEG!
Green bins are coming to more Edmonton homes
With the City of Edmonton’s efforts to rid the eyesore that is brought about by plastic garbage bags strewn across our alleyways, there also comes an effort to reduce the amount of organic waste that ends up in our landfills.
To help residents reduce their organic waste, they will receive a pail and a cart between March and August of this year. So, let’s break down what each of these things will be used for: The pail is meant to be used in the house to store food scraps until they need to be transferred to the cart outside! This organic waste cart will be collected weekly, aside from the wintertime, where the City will collect it every two weeks.
Once the waste is collected it will either be brought to Edmonton’s Anaerobic Digestion Facility or to contracted partners in the Edmonton region to be processed. So, what on earth is an Anaerobic Digestion Facility? Well, let’s make it easy to digest (hehe), it’s a facility that breaks down organic waste through the absence of oxygen and turns it into compost which can be used in gardens, big or small! You can learn more about anaerobic composting in this video!
You might be asking yourself, why is this such a big deal? Well, by implementing organic waste bins, the City will be able to divert this waste from the landfill and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced.
To learn more about the City of Edmonton’s Cart Rollout, check out their webpage!
Sustainable leather made from cactuses
Poppy Barley, a luxury brand based out of Edmonton, is now creating sustainable plant-based accessories made out of cacti.
This venture came to life when Poppy and Barley were looking to create a vegan-friendly line but wanted to avoid the traditional vegan leathers that are made from plastics. This cactus based leather is made from the leaves, leaving the rest of the plant intact! Another thing that’s cool about using cacti leaves to make leather is that they require little water to grow and are in great abundance, making this venture environmentally friendly in numerous ways.
You can learn more about this line and see what it has to offer by visiting Poppy Barley’s website!
Those are our sustainability stories for this month, keep an eye out for the next edition of Edmonton Sustainability in Review at the end of February!