Recycling rubbish in Vancouver

Most people in Vancouver, have changed the way they view garbage, and this a good development for the junk removal business. In this article, you will find out, exactly how this industry is changing slowly from a garbage hauling activity into a recycling effort.

I have to admit, that as a owner of a waste management business, I was a bit sceptical about the recycling programs, and to a large extend, a little upset at some of the extra work my business had to do, due to these programs. In the past, it was fairly simple. Garbage in, when when we load it at the client’s house, and garbage out, when we dump it at the city landfill. However, the world start changing, and I got a different perspective on recycling in Vancouver.

What I think, really changed my views on recycling, was something that had nothing to do with materials that are recyclable. After so many years of seeing the same “valuable”, items being thrown to the dump, by my clients, I completely changed my view on possessions. I lost the ability to put value, behind physical items, unless of extreme quality. I saw so many clients, throwing away, tons of items, that were valuable to them, until the day before. They had no room to keep it, and in my opinion, even though I kept it to myself, they never needed them.

To fair to my clients, I’ve notice that they are changing too. I saw many of them, again and again. They loved the idea of getting rid of things they never needed, and at the same time, not interested in buying new ones. With every visit, their houses, looked bigger and bigger. Freeing up space, was addictive. Now, this is an addiction, that has mostly positive side effects.

So, after so many years, witnessing so much valuables, being thrown away, I tried selling or donating them. This is when it really hit me. No one, wanted them. They were valuables , when picked up from a store, but not when sold as a second hand item. To be fair, I have to mention, that the biggest hurdle to this was, that most people don’t have the transportation, to move an assembled item, such as a couch. They needed, the delivery service, most furniture stores offer, which I could not do, since it was not economical for my business. It was a logistical nightmare. The other issue, was that most charities, stay away from furniture, because of bed bugs.

This felft very wasteful to me. This is when, I started to like the idea, of picking up something, and then not taking it to the garbage stinky pile at the city landfill. This is what, we were doing with the recycling materials. Everything, we took to the recycling centres, I knew , it will be used again, and again. That was the point, when I stopped complaining about the recycling programs. I didn’t see them any more, as a draconian spider web of by-laws. I still posses, lots of criticism, but this is because of inefficiencies and corruption in the environmental movements. I still see, too much mimicking of “it is for Mother Earth”.

So, which are the things that get recycled? Below, is a list of the items/materials that must be recycled in Vancouver:

  • Cardboard

  • Metal

  • Drywall

  • Bottles and cans

  • soil

  • green materials

  • untreated wood

  • paint

  • large appliances

  • electronics

  • some plastics

  • mattresses

  • box spring

  • paper and books

I am sure, the list is missing some items, but trust me. When I see a recyclable, I put is aside before I load it onto the truck.

I am looking towards, the times, when I can call my business “A recycling business”, instead of a “junk removal business”.