Setting Up A Home Recycling Station 64

Some cities, like Calgary have single stream recycling: all recycling, including glass and plastic bags, can be placed together in curbside pick up where it is sorted at the depot by a combination of people and automated machines. But on Vancouver Island not all of these items can be placed in the blue bin (see sidebar) and the onus is on consumers to be the sorters. If you’re having trouble seeing the advantage, it’s that we can clearly see how much waste we’re actually generating.

The pre-sorting process is important – too many of us opt for the sort later approach which simply means borrowing time in the future. As my mom always said: “There’s no time like the present.” So, sort it out now. At Island Return It, they request people pre-sort and count their refundables before they arrive. It’s much quicker then sorting them in your trunk, and there’s no space inside the building for sorting. COVID-19 highlights the need for us to consider the safety of others. Pre-sorting means less handling for the staff.

In South Cowichan where I live, curbside pick up only takes away mixed paper, cardboard, plastic containers, beverage cups, lids and metal cans. That leaves me to sort and take to Island Return It in Duncan, refundable beverage cans, refundable and nonrefundable glass, soft stretchy plastic and non-stretchy crinkly plastic. I also need a bin within my home to store my curbside pick-up items. Considering all the categories, we need about six storage bins.

Storage Recycling Options If you have a good recycling home storage system, it makes the sorting process a breeze. After doing some research on home recycling storage, I realized that the best way to create a neat and organized environment is uniformity and clear labeling.

One simple idea, depending on how much daily recycling you generate, is to stack everything in one or two central bins in the house, usually in a corner of the kitchen, and then designate two days a week for separating them in stackable bins in the garage. It’s a great chore for kids and gives them a good sense of how much recycling their families are generating. Many stores sell various stackable options, some with lids and some without. Because we don’t have a garage, we need a series of bins in the kitchen. My favourite option is concealing taller recycling bins in an upcycled kitchen cabinet. Simply label interior bins so all family members are clear about where things go. Smaller items such as batteries can be stored in a square basket within the top drawer of the cabinet. When recycling containers are full, pack them into the trunk of your vehicle and head over to the depot or Island Return It. Two other options which hide the recycling away: a two tiered cabinet with pull-out baskets, and a storage bench with a lid in which recycling bins can be stored. Some homeowners also have a miscellaneous container for recyclable odds and ends. It surprised me to find out that you can also recycle smoke alarms, small appliances, power tools, CDs and electric toothbrushes at Island Return It.

For a more open system you can try stackable bins with or without lids which often work for vertical spaces in laundry rooms or beside pantry cupboards. Installing a single shelf along one wall also allows you to store some recycling containers on the floor and others on the shelf. You can also repurpose an old filing cabinet to hold recyclables.

The surge in global household and medical generated waste from our COVID-19 experience highlights the need for responsible citizenship and draws attention to our consumer habits. More than ever it’s important to rise to the challenge of managing our waste. Sorting and storing it with a little more care and innovation is a good place to start. Then we can perhaps see with more clarity where we can actually reduce.

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Client Centred, Client Focused FAIZAL CHARANIA Licensed Real Estate Consultant

RE/MAX of Duncan - Mill Bay 472 Trans Canada Highway Offi ce: 250.748.7200 www.faizal.charania.remax.ca • Residential • Agri Business • Strata I mobile (250) 732.5250

Ihad met John Weyermars when he worked for a different company. He had come by to advise me about heatpumps. A year later, he was working for Viridian and I was pleased to have him figure out the possibilities for putting solar panels on our roof.

Though there was an initial concern from the aerial view that we had too many trees, John proceeded to do the measurements and calculations. He determined that solar panels would reduce our electric bill by more than 25% (or almost $1000/mo). Since the cost of the installation was a bit over $16000, our panels would pay for themselves in a little over a decade-and-a-half!

How often can you buy something that actually pays for itself?!

Sharing My Solar Story

Communications during postponement Due to the novel covid-19, Viridian decided to not do any installations two days before ours was scheduled. Steve Unger, the project manager, apologized and assured me that we were first on the list when things cleared up. Furthermore, he arranged to have my deposit refunded since we were not sure when they’d begin again.

Installation by the Fantastic Four The actual installation was done by four individuals who were not only very competent, but exceptionally considerate: Clay, Kuan, Michelle and Nigel.

Kuan checked out the territory initially and setup the plan for proceeding. Clay with Michelle figured out the electrical deployment and explained the component functions to me. Michelle even went as far as taping up wiring in our attic that had been exposed by rats chewing on them. I told her I’d look after that since it was above and beyond the call of her duty, but she said “No problem - it’s the mother in me.” She was also going to patch-up the drywall they had dislodged to put in the electrical, but I stopped her from doing so, since we were going to redo that area anyway. Nigel explained and demostrated the solar panel attachment process and while Kuan and Michelle were on the roof, he tidied the site and delivered the panels up to them. It was really quite an amazing to watch!

Follow up The system worked flawlessly right away and with a bit of help from Clay and Kuan we were able to monitor things from the APSystems app on our phone as well as see things on my desktop by going to their website. Michelle gave me a tour of the electrical connections that they had put in.

Finally, Steve and John checked in the following week to ensure that all was well.

Payments over the period of a week since there is an e-transfer limit and Viridian was most accommodating in that respect too.

I’ll bet you are wanting to see our system in action - well you can and it’s better than watching television! Here, take a look for yourself!

Conclusion This installation from start to finish was conducted by some of the best people we have had working at our house over nearly 25 years! The product is excellent as are the people at Viridian!

Island Drone Works With Somenos Marsh Wildlife Society

Andrew Jeffrey, proprietor and Advanced-level RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft System) drone pilot at Island Drone Services, recently visited the Open Air Classroom at the Somenos Marsh Conservation Area for an aerial video documentation and 3D mapping project.

“It was exciting working with Elodie Roger [Program Manager] and Paul Fletcher [President] from the Somenos Marsh Wildlife Society, they both have a real interest in applying aerial drones to large-scale conservation efforts. Paul knows how much I love the landscape and wildlife of that area, I’d published a book of my nature photos a few years ago, so when they invited me to take my drone to the Marsh, I could hardly wait! Elodie and I did a planning walkabout the day before the first flight, and the filming mission itself took about an hour overall.”

While on site, Andrew also took a sequence of aerial photographs

to make an interactive 360° image that features the boardwalk at the Open Air Classroom. “The ‘360’ is made from combining thirty-four separate photographs that the drone took from about a hundred and fifty feet above the center of the OAC, you can spin it around on the web and see all of the Somenos Marsh and the surrounding Cowichan Valley.” The next step, a few days later, was a 3D mapping mission of the eleven-acre site. “Drone-acquired 3D mapping is becoming an important component of conservation projects these days” Andrew explains. “I set up a survey grid pattern beforehand on my laptop, and the aircraft flew it automatically, taking almost four hundred photos during a twentysix-minute flight, at a height of about two hundred feet.” The result is a detailed, up-to-date digital 3D model of the Open Air Classroom that the Society intends to use for education and study and as a land management baseline reference. “The Somenos Marsh is one of our very best local features, it’s so nice and peaceful and there’s always birds and wildlife and different plants everywhere… it’s worth a visit whenever you get a chance. The society does a ton of work towards making this possible, supporters can help out just by becoming a ‘Friend of the Marsh’, you can even have your own name or business name engraved right onto the boardwalk.” “And a ‘hello’ and thank you to all the visitors and l volunteers I met out there!” For more information about the Somenos Marsh Conservation Area go to www.somenosmarsh.com.

Video footage, 360° imagery and a 3D virtual model of the

Open Air Classroom from this project can be seen at www. islanddrone.ca. To book your own drone survey with Andrew call 778) 584-5753 or email him at andrew@islanddrone.ca.