You make choices when you shop.

Consider the environmental effects of a product BEFORE you purchase it.

Here are some precycling suggestions:

• Buy items that can be reused rather than thrown away.

• Avoid disposals such as diapers. razors, lighters and pens, plastic foodware, paper plates, throwaway batteries. Each of these has a reusable alternative.

• Choose the least packaged item or buy in bulk.

• Buy milk, juice and beer in bottles.

• Tell your store manager when you see excessive packaging. Encourage local businesses to use and sell recycled content products.

• Bring your own grocery bag or box.

Buying recycled is the third step in the recycling loop -- without it, you're not really recycling.

Please do your part to increase market demand for recycled products by purchasing items which have recycled packaging or contents. This way companies will be encouraged to expand their usage of recycled components in manufactured goods.

If you're not buying recycled, you're not really recycling!

 

Our Free Store         A thriving and very active component of the Hornby Island RecycleDepot is our FREE STORE. Here you can find a new outfit for yourself or your kids, books and magazines furniture kitchen equipment toys gardening tools sewing patterns the list is endless!

HORNBY ISLAND SOLAR DEMONSTRATION PROJECT ~ 2016

• In June (2016), a 28 panel solar array was installed on the south-facing (back) roof of our Free Store.  Another 7 panels will be installed in February (2017), bringing the array up to 35 panels.  

• To date, the solar panel array of 28 panels has produced almost 4 mega watt hours of electricity since the June installation.  The solar installation in fact, supplies all the electricity needed for the Depot from June through November. 

 

HOW and WHY:

• Under their Transportation and Energy initiative, mandated by the Hornby Vision Process,  HICEEC is working to move Hornby to a post-carbon economy.  The steering group wanted to implement a concrete project in year 1 that set a new tone for how we think about a post-carbon infrastructure, while building local knowledge, resilience, and economic benefits.

• As an example:  According to MIT Technology Review, Germany, the 4th largest economy in the world, is now the world’s largest solar market.  The latitude of Germany is between 48 degrees and 54 degrees.  The latitude of Vancouver Island is between 48 degrees and 51 degrees.  In 2015, renewables accounted for 1/3 of the electricity consumed in Germany.  Germany’s carbon emissions in 2014 were 27% lower than 1990 levels.

 

• HICEEC / HIRRA applied to the Comox Valley Regional District for Community Works / Gas Tax funding for the project.  A feasibility study and system design was completed by Ian Emberton, a local electrician.  The project was then approved by the CVRD board in November 2015.

 

HICEEC AND HIRRA looked at several different commercial buildings on Hornby for the solar demonstration project and selected the Free Store roof as the best location.

• The purpose of this solar demonstration project is to educate residents about the performance and financial cost/reward of a publicly visible solar project on Hornby.  This Project is expected to reduce the Recycling Depot’s energy bill by at least half over the 30 year demonstration timeline.

 A further goal of the Solar Project is to educate homeowners about opportunities for local energy production.

• Under the agreement, HIRRA  owns, and insures, the solar panels and components, which are installed on the CVRD-owned building. The solar panels cover almost the entire south-facing roof, and will produce about 7200 kwh per year; known as a 7kw system.

 

• Stan Combs produced a spreadsheet for looking at the financial efficiency of the proposed system.  He used conservative production and financial projections. This model is available and can be used for research into other public or private solar projects on the island.

• The cost of the Project was $32,000.  This cost included the HICEEC Feasibility Study and an informational sign which will be installed up at the Recycling Depot.

 

• Tenders were requested for the installation of the solar panels, and of the  4 companies that applied, GabEnergy, a non-profit society located on Gabriola Island was chosen.  GabEnergy has done about 100 installations on the Gulf Islands, is a non-profit company, and is passionate about sharing what they have learned as well as involving and training local people.  They use very good quality materials and their price was exceedingly competitive.

Our Solar System consisting of 35 solar panels, each with it’s own micro-inverter is “grid-tied”, which means that it feeds directly into the BC Hydro grid and does not require any batteries for storage.

• The Warranty, which is third-party insured, is for 25 years.  The Silicon cells used were made in Germany and assembled in Canada.

 

• As a part of the Project, Dave Neads of GabEnergy, taught a one-day Solar Workshop about how to ascertain if your home would be a good candidate for solar panel installation.  The workshop was advertised on Hornby for the reasonable cost of $25, and was attended by 10 Hornby residents.

• Dave Neads put together a great little  booklet, “BASIC SOLAR”,  which is open-source and can easily be photocopied for anyone that is interested.

He makes the point that the Micro Inverters are “really the heart of the revolution in solar design. They transform the DC power coming from the module into AC power that is needed in the home.  ……they do it in such a way that it is fully compatible with the BC Hydro grid.   ……..they allow an array that is much more tolerant of shading”,  as each module, with it’s own micro inverter, functions independently, in the array.   

• Dave also set up a website which you can use to follow the real-time energy production of our system.  At enlighten.enphaseenergy.com you will see there the amount of energy being created, and used, as you watch.

• Now, I would like to invite each of you to consider “Conservation of Energy” as this can be seen as our FIRST SOURCE of renewal energy. Reducing your use of electricity can be very helpful before you purchase and set up a solar array for your home. 

• In 2014, BC Government and BC Hydro announced a 28 per cent electricity rate hike  to take place over five years, beginning with a nine per cent jump in  2014.  After this set of increases is completed in 2019, there will be another announcement as to whether more increases will be put in place.

Looking closely at our own use of energy has the immediate benefit of reducing your BC Hydro bill – very lucrative as the Hydro rates are continuing to rise.

I decided last November to do this for our home in Sandpiper.  We used a very good book that I found in our local library.  “THE HOME ENERGY DIET”, by Paul Scheckel, is available at our Library, and is a very user-friendly guide to how to save money by making your home Energy Smart.  It is very comprehensive and easy to use.

• We checked for doors and windows for heat loss and replaced or installed weather stripping. 

• We flushed our Hot Water tank and played with the setting till we had the lowest setting that could work for us. 

• We replaced all our light bulbs with LED bulbs (soft/warm option) meaning we now use about 1/6th of the energy we were using for light!

• We discussed where we might conveniently locate a clothes drying rack. We found a perfect spot in the landing at the top of the stairs, that we BOTH like to use.  A dryer load of laundry takes only about 3 hours to dry, FOR FREE!

It was fun, it feels good, we pay less to BC Hydro, and if we decide to install solar panels, we know we have brought our consumption down and will need fewer panels (less cost!) to meet our electricity needs.

Some other excellent resources are:

“CATCHING THE SUN” is a 2015 documentary, available on Netflix, takes a diverse look at the transition to solar power.  It speaks directly to the false idea that clean energy, such as solar or wind, requires sacrificing economic prosperity.

“THE LEAP” by Chris Turner, available at our Library, is well-written, well-researched, interesting and informative about the emerging world of cleantech possibility.  Definitely  a “Good News” book!                          

2017 New Horizon’s Literary Lunch Talk about the HI Solar Demonstration Project:

Take-aways:

• “BASIC SOLAR – DESIGN AND INSTALL YOUR OWN SOLAR ARRAY” booklet , by Dave Neads, of GabEnergy,  Gabriola, BC.  This Booklet is open-source and can be photocopied.

• To follow the real-time energy production of the solar array on the HI Free Store roof,  go to enlighten.enphaseenergy.com.  You will see there the amount of energy being created, and used, as you watch.

 

•  “CATCHING THE SUN” is a 2015 documentary, available on Netflix, takes a diverse look at the transition to solar power.  It speaks directly to the false idea that clean energy, such as solar or wind, requires sacrificing economic prosperity.

• “THE HOME ENERGY DIET”, by Paul Scheckel, is available at our Library, and is a very user-friendly guide to how to save money by making your home Energy Smart.  It is very comprehensive and easy to use.

 

• “THE LEAP” by Chris Turner, is available at our Library, well-written, well-researched, interesting and informative about the emerging world of cleantech possibility.  A “Good News” book!

2017 New Horizon’s Literary Lunch Talk about the HI Solar Demonstration Project:

Take-aways:

• “BASIC SOLAR – DESIGN AND INSTALL YOUR OWN SOLAR ARRAY” booklet , by Dave Neads, of GabEnergy,  Gabriola, BC.  This Booklet is open-source and can be photocopied.

• To follow the real-time energy production of the solar array on the HI Free Store roof,  go to enlighten.enphaseenergy.com.  You will see there the amount of energy being created, and used, as you watch.

 

•  “CATCHING THE SUN” is a 2015 documentary, available on Netflix, takes a diverse look at the transition to solar power.  It speaks directly to the false idea that clean energy, such as solar or wind, requires sacrificing economic prosperity.

• “THE HOME ENERGY DIET”, by Paul Scheckel, is available at

  
  

  our Library, and is a very user-friendly guide to how to save money by making your home Energy Smart.  It is very comprehensive and easy to use.

 

• “THE LEAP” by Chris Turner, is available at our Library, well-written, well-researched, interesting and informative about the emerging world of cleantech possibility.  A “Good News” book!

 

LINKS

• THE COAST WASTE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION

  The Hornby Island Recycling Depot is a member of The Coast Waste Management Association (CWMA), a nonprofit organization formed to represent the waste management interests of government, non-profits, and businesses on Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast and Central Coast of BC

• HIRRA (Hornby Island Residence ane Ratepayers Association)

  HIRRA, along with our local Island Trustees, represents the interests of islanders with respect to local and regional issues. HIRRA is one of the principal service providers on our island, and has contracts with the Regional District of Comox-Strathcona for the provision of regional district services on Hornby Island.

• CVRD Depots (Comox Strathcona Waste Management Recycling Depots)

• Short Film about our Recyling Depoty and Free Store by the  CVRD"

• Short Film about our Recyling Depoty and Free Store by "Real Things"

• Bob Cain's Recycling Photos
  Bob Cain has been documenting thet Hornby Island Recycling Depot since its incarnation. Here are many more pictures of our little recycling depot.

• HORNBY ISLAND

  More information and pictures of our beautiful island off the coast of British Columbia.

• RECYCLING COUNCIL OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (RCBC) Canada’s oldest recycling council. Founded in 1974 and registered provincially and federally as a non-profit organization. Starting out as an umbrella group for community based non-profit recycling societies, today the RCBC's 300 members include governments, businesses, non-profit societies, and interested individuals from all parts of British Columbia -- and beyond.

  Thier mission is to be a non-profit organization that brings everyone together to work for environmental sustainability. They advocate waste avoidance and resource conservation through education and information services, and through participation in policy development.

• ENVIROLINK

  An online environmental community with a wealth of contacts and information for the environmentally aware. Connected to this site is ENVIROARTS, a site featuring essays, poetry, interviews, and portfolios gleaned largely from the pages of the award-winning magazines.

• ECO-CYCLE

  A community based program in Boulder Colorado, Eco-Cycle is one of the oldest and is the largest of nonprofit community recyclers in the US Founded in 1976, Eco-Cycle continues to promote a strong conservation ethic.

• ANTI-RECYCLING MYTHS

  Sponsored by The Environmental Defense Fund , this rebuttal to the New York Times article, "Recycling is Garbage" is an excellent read.

  
  

For further information
Contact Recycling Program Manager
Stani Veselinovic

EMAIL: recycling@hirra.ca

Phone: 250 335-0550

 

Summer notes from the depot………..

As we have sprung into summer and the mask mandated being removed, our Free Store has reopened with new opening hours. You can now visit the Free Store Thursday – Sunday form 10 am- 12 pm. All donations are now collected on the east side of the Free Store at the large garage doors from 10 am – 12 noon.

Please ensure that all Free Store donations are clean and in good working order. All clothing needs to be laundered with no rips or stains. Books need to dry, and no mold should be present. Please do not leave donations outside the Free Store when the Free Store is closed.

Be aware that if masking is reintroduced as a mandate, we may have to close our Free Store.

The recycling Depot Ours are Thursdays – Sunday from 9am till 1pm until Labour Day. The we will be switching back to Fridays – Sundays. Please note that we will be closed on all statutory holidays such as Canada Day on July first and the August Civic holiday on Monday August first.

Note that we are now collecting Milk Beverages as “refundables”. This applies to all "ready-to-drink" milk and plant-based beverage containers of assorted sizes, purchased on or after February 1, 2022. Containers that are NOT included in the program are those not meant primarily as “ready-to-drink”, such as infant formula, meal replacement or dietary supplements, coffee cream and other coffee additives, whipping cream, buttermilk, drinkable yogurt, and kefir.

HIRRA’s new insurance policy requires the recycling depot to accept more responsibility around liability and you will notice a number of changes in how we now address scavenging.

Early in May we re-negotiated our collective agreement with CUPE who has been representing our staff since 2019. The HIRRA member ship voted on the agreement at the May meeting in favour, in time for our budgeting in September.

Also please note that glass outside the provincial recycling program must be deposited as waste and can no longer be added to the old glass pile. At the moment the pile has reached its maximum and we can no longer add to it. If you are interested in taking away some of our glass for one of your own projects, please talk to us.

A reminder when planning to drop of drywall to call ahead to ensure our drywall bin is on the island and that there is room for what you want to drop. As well make sure you have filled out the required paperwork available at http://hirra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dry-Wall-Waste-Disposal-Application-March-2017.pdf

Finally we want to take the opportunity to thank all those volunteers who have working hard in the free store sorting donations and stocking the shelves, our dedicated staff, our volunteer recycling committee and the HIRRA executive and staff for all doing their part to help our recycling depot operate.

…...See you up on depot hill

Notes from the depot.for December 2021 and January 2022

 

Greetings from Depot Hill. As we are writing this month’s missive to our patrons, we would like to take the opportunity to wish everyone many happy holidays this festive season.

With pandemic protocols still with us and the current natural disasters in BC forcing us to suspend the collection of foam and glass we are working hard to continue to service this small community as best we can. At this time we do not know how long the glass and foam suspension will continue and are asking our patrons to stockpile these materials at home until collection can resume. We will communicate any changes and updates about our service capacity via social media, our web page, our island’s radio station CHFR at 96.5 and the “Tribune” our local weekly publications.

We would like to remind everyone that we will be closed Christmas Day December 25th and Boxing Day December 26^th as well as New Year’s Day January 1^st 2022.

Our Free Store’s opening hours are Friday – Sunday from 9am till 1pm and is also closed on all statutory holidays. Donations are accepted in the shipping container by the main entrance. Please only send items that are clean and in good working condition. Books also should be placed in the container and not in the library.

Vince Van Tongeren the CVRD’s Environmental Analyst has prepared a staff report around the idea of a Composting Toilet Residuals Processing facility at the Recycling Depot. He will share this staff report with our community at the HIRRA meeting in February and we encourage all interested parties to attend this meeting to find out more about Composting Toilet Residuals Processing on Hornby Island.

We have been collecting and stockpiling window glass for many years now in order to find way to recycle this waste product. We have not been able to find a viable solution and are finding ourselves in a position to likely having to landfill our large glass pile. We also are contemplating to restrict the collection of glass as a recyclable product and start sending this material to landfill. We would continue to accept intact glass panes from windows for reuse but would have to landfill all other glass that is not part of the provincial packaging program. We are looking for other solutions and would welcome any thoughts on how to make use of the broken glass we receive other than landfilling it.

A reminder that the tire stewardship will pay for heaving old tires that patrons to the Recycling Depot dropped off, picked up for free, the tire stewardship does not cover the cost for de-rimming the tires from the rim. The Recycling Depot is charged $5 per rimmed tire, and we will have to pass this cost onto our patrons.

Remember to call ahead when planning deposit drywall to ensure that our drywall bin is on the island and that there is room in the bin for your drywall before you come to the depot. Ensure that you have your waste disposal application printed and filled out before you arrive at the recycling depot. The waste disposal application can be downloaded and printed at http://hirra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dry-Wall-Waste-Disposal-Application-March-2017.pdf

Note again that we no longer are able to stockpile concrete rubble and need to ship that material as construction waste of island. Again we will need to pass this cost onto the customers who need to drop off concrete rubble.

November Notes from the Depot……….

The October rains helped slow down business at the Hornby Island Recycling Depot. However our Free Store has been extremely popular and busy. Even our enforced masking protocol does not seem to keep patrons away. The Free Store is happening. So much so that we are dire need of volunteers to sort the donations that keep pouring in.
We would like to take the opportunity to thank all those patrons who attended HIRRA zoom meeting this October and supported our 2022 budget.
In the RecycleBC stream alone, this is most of your packaging made from paper, cardboard, plastics, tin, and glass, we have hade an increase of 30 % from the previous year. This impacts our staffing requirements for 2022 and we need to budget more personnel to process all these materials.
Covid-19 directive from WorkSafeBC requires us to enforces mask wearing protocols in all of our indoor facilities. This includes our beloved Free Store and puts the Hornby Island Recycling Depot in a very difficult position. We now require budgeting for staff to monitor and enforce mask wearing. Without our staff monitoring for compliance, the Free Store would likely have to close.
This has impacted our 2022 wages and benefits requirements considerably and we are investigating suggestions made at the last HIRRA meeting, such as an increase in tipping fees as well as reducing Free Store opening hours to help reduce the tax burden.
Last month we were working together with Rob Zielinski and the Walmsley Brothers on a marine debris clean-up initiative. They delivered 2842kg (one full 40-yard bin) of marine debris to us, which we were able to send off to land fill free of charge.
We are also working together with the volunteer fire department in a branch chipping fuel reduction and compost program. Over 40 yards of Hornby Island brush chips were integrated into our compost and will be available when ready for free to our island’s residents.
Another reminder that the tire stewardship will pay for heaving old tires that patrons to the Recycling Depot dropped off, picked up for free, the tire stewardship does not cover the cost for de-rimming the tires from the rim. The Recycling Depot is charged $5 per rimmed tire, and we will have to pass this cost onto our patrons.
Please call ahead when planning deposit drywall to ensure that our drywall bin is on the island and that there is room in the bin for your drywall before you come to the depot. Ensure that you have your waste disposal application printed and filled out before you arrive at the recycling depot. The waste disposal application can be downloaded and printed at http://hirra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dry-Wall-Waste-Disposal-Application-March-2017.pdf
Also be reminded again that we no longer are able to stockpile concrete rubble and need to ship that material as construction waste of island. Again we will need to pass this cost onto the customers who need to drop off concrete rubble.
Please note that the CVRD’s Weed Control Regulation Bylaw which includes Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum Salicaria), Japanese Knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum), Yellow Flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus), Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea biersteinii), English Ivy (Hedera helix), Giant Cow Parsnip (Hogweed) Heracleum mantegazzianum), Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius), Gorse (Ulex europaeus), Dalmatian Toadflax (Linaria dalmatica), Himalayan Blackberry (Rubus discolor), and English Holly (Ilex aquifolium), and we no longer accept these plants in our compost and they must be disposed of in our waste stream.
A final note that household hazardous waste like motor oil, paint, batteries, light bulbs etc. can be only brought to our Product Care Building on Fridays from 9 am till 1 pm only.
Again we want to thank the Recycling Committee and HIRRA administration for their ongoing work and support, and a big thank you to our Free Store volunteer for their hard work and dedication.

 …..….See you up on depot hill.

Notes from the Depot October 2021……….

 

Although we are moving into fall, we are still extremely busy here at the Hornby Island Recycling Depot. Our shoulder season is keeping us busy and the recycling and waste materials flowing.

As we are writing this fall article for the first edition, we are also very busy crafting our 2022 budget for the HIRRA executive and assembly.  We are noticing a steady increase in the materials we process. In the RecycleBC stream alone, this is most of your packaging made from paper, cardboard, plastics, tin, and glass, we have hade an increase of %30 from the previous year.  This will impact our wage requirements in 2021 as we need to budget more personal to process more of these materials.

We reopened our Free Store in September adhering to the provinces directive to require everyone to wear masks in the Free Store. This of course requires more labour than anticipated in form of a “Free Store Greeter” who ensures that the provinces mask wearing protocol is followed. Unfortunately this as well has a negative impact on our wages budget as we did not budget for a person to be employed in this capacity. In order to continue to keep the free store open to the public in 2022 we have budgeted for additional labour to perform the function as free store greeter in 2022.

If you want, take the opportunity to have a look at the Hornby Island Recycling Depots 2022 budget on the HIRRA website at www.hirra.ca before HIRRA’s budget meeting this month and take part in HIRRA’s ZOOM meeting when this budget will be voted on.

Please note that as always, we are in need of Free Store Volunteers. If you have time and want to be part of an active volunteer body, please consider joining our team of Free Store Volunteers any Thursday through Sunday to sort and shelve all the fabulous Free Store donations that are donated.

Another reminder that the tire stewardship will pay for heaving old tires that patrons to the Recycling Depot dropped off, picked up for free, the tire stewardship does not cover the cost for de-rimming the tires from the rim. The Recycling Depot is charged $5 per rimmed tire, and we will have to pass this cost onto our patrons.

Also be reminded that we no longer are able to stockpile concrete rubble and need to ship that material as construction waste of island. Again we will need to pass this cost onto the customers who need to drop off concrete rubble.

Please call ahead when planning deposit drywall to ensure that our drywall bin is on the island and that there is room in the bin for your drywall before you come to the depot. Ensure that you have your waste disposal application printed and filled out before you arrive at the recycling depot. The waste disposal application can be downloaded and printed at http://hirra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dry-Wall-Waste-Disposal-Application-March-2017.pdf

Please note that the CVRD’s Weed Control Regulation Bylaw which includes Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum Salicaria), Japanese Knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum), Yellow Flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus), Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea biersteinii), English Ivy (Hedera helix), Giant Cow Parsnip (Hogweed) Heracleum mantegazzianum), Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius), Gorse (Ulex europaeus), Dalmatian Toadflax (Linaria dalmatica), Himalayan Blackberry (Rubus discolor), and English Holly (Ilex aquifolium), and we no longer accept these plants in our compost and they must be disposed of in our waste stream.

A final note that household hazardous waste like motor oil, paint, batteries, light bulbs etc. can be only brought to our Product Care Building on Fridays from 9 am till 1 pm only.

And as always, we want to thank the Recycling Committee and HIRRA administration for their ongoing work and support, and a big thank you to our Free Store volunteer for their hard work and dedication.

 

 …..….See you up on depot hill.

Notes from the Depot September 2021

As you may have heard from many other sources, the summer of 2021 has been an extremely busy summer at the recycling depot. We were shipping two 40’ roll-of containers of recyclables weekly. Along with a cube van full of refundable every week. This of course over and above the two to four 40’ roll-of waste bins we ship weekly. Over and all an extremely busy summer.  Please note that after Labour Day we will be open Fridays through Sundays from 9 am till 1pm and we will be closed Labour Day.

In July we were able to reduce our covid restrictions and removed our physical distancing protocols but leaving the mask wearing protocols in place to minimize the spread of covid -19. This practice enabled patrons to do their recycling and waste disposal without the lineups that we were experiencing before July.

We also opened our Free Store to the public for four days a week in July and August much to the delight of the many tourists who visited our island. Many times when we had over twenty cars parked at the Free Store, we only had half a dozen visiting the recycling building. The Free Store is likely the most visited attraction on this island. Besides the beaches of course.

A reminder that the tire stewardship will pay for heaving old tires that patrons to the Recycling Depot dropped off, picked up for free, the tire stewardship does not cover the cost for de-rimming the tires from the rim. The Recycling Depot is charged $5 per rimmed tire, and we will have to pass this cost onto our patrons.

We are also no longer able to stockpile concrete rubble and need to ship that material as construction waste of island. Again we will need to pass this cost onto the customers who need to drop off concrete rubble.

We would like to remind everyone again to please call ahead when planning deposit drywall to ensure that our drywall bin is on the island and that there is room in the bin for your drywall before you come to the depot. As well please ensure that you have your waste disposal application out before you arrive at the recycling depot. The waste disposal application can be downloaded and printed at http://hirra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dry-Wall-Waste-Disposal-Application-March-2017.pdf

The CVRD’s Weed Control Regulation Bylaw which includes Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum Salicaria), Japanese Knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum), Yellow Flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus), Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea biersteinii), English Ivy (Hedera helix), Giant Cow Parsnip (Hogweed) Heracleum mantegazzianum), Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius), Gorse (Ulex europaeus), Dalmatian Toadflax (Linaria dalmatica), Himalayan Blackberry (Rubus discolor), and English Holly (Ilex aquifolium), and we no longer accept these plants in our compost and they must be disposed of in our waste stream.

A note that household hazardous waste like motor oil, paint, batteries, light bulbs etc. can be brought to our Product Care Building on Fridays from 9 am till 1 pm only.

And as always, we want to thank the Recycling Committee and HIRRA administration for their ongoing work and support, thank you to our Free Store volunteer for their hard work and dedication, and thank-you to the committed volunteers who keep the gardens looking so good. …..….See you up on depot hill.

Notes from the depot for July & August 2021

The good weather is here and we’re in full waste diversion mode, ready for the Summer of 2021.  Here are some notes for our visitors to the Hornby Island Recycling Depot. We are now open Thursdays through Sundays from 9 am till 1pm through-out the months of July and August. Note that we will be closed all Statutory Holidays including Canada Day, BC Day, and Labour Day.

The Recycling Depot continues to operate with Covid-19 protocols in place. We thank-you for your continued patience and for wearing a mask when you are inside any of our buildings. If anyone hasn't been to the Depot recently, we will be happy to clarify the Covid protocols.

We are now collecting tipping fees at point of entry of the recycling depot. To make payment more convenient we are selling waste tickets in books of ten that can be purchased at our cashier kiosk. These tickets cost $2.00 each and can be exchanged for waste disposal at the depot at the rate one ticket per small garbage bag, two tickets per medium garbage bag, and three tickets per large garbage bags. You can also pay for your garbage using your debit or credit card. To date we are still following the directive to restrict cash transactions.

Please note that although the tire stewardship will pay for heaving old tires that patrons to the Recycling Depot dropped off, picked up for free, the tire stewardship does not cover the cost for de-rimming the tires from the rim. The Recycling Depot is charged $5 per rimmed tire, and we will have to, from now on, pass this cost onto our patrons.

We are also no longer able to stockpile concrete rubble and need to ship that material as construction waste of island. Again we will need to pass this cost onto the customers who need to drop off concrete rubble.

We would like to remind everyone again to please call ahead when planning deposit drywall to ensure that our drywall bin is on the island and that there is room in the bin for your drywall before you come to the depot. As well please ensure that you have your waste disposal application out before you arrive at the recycling depot. The waste disposal application can be downloaded and printed at http://hirra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dry-Wall-Waste-Disposal-Application-March-2017.pdf

Due to the CVRD’s Weed Control Regulation Bylaw which includes Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum Salicaria), Japanese Knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum), Yellow Flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus), Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea biersteinii), English Ivy (Hedera helix), Giant Cow Parsnip (Hogweed) Heracleum mantegazzianum), Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius), Gorse (Ulex europaeus), Dalmatian Toadflax (Linaria dalmatica), Himalayan Blackberry (Rubus discolor), and English Holly (Ilex aquifolium), we no longer accept these plants in our compost and they must be disposed of in our waste stream.

A note that household hazardous waste like motor oil, paint, batteries, light bulbs etc. can be brought to our Product Care Building on Fridays from 9 am till 1 pm only.

We will be making a decision around the possibility to re-opening our Free Store once the province has release it’s Covid-19 update in early July. Stay tuned for more information as it develops.

And as always, we want to thank the Recycling Committee and HIRRA administration for their ongoing work and support, thank you to our Free Store volunteer for their hard work and dedication, and thank-you to the committed volunteers who keep the gardens looking so good. …..….See you up on depot hill.

  

Notes from the depot for June 2021

All of us at the Depot were saddened to learn of Ruth Fortune's passing. Ruth was a longtime volunteer and will be greatly missed by all of us. We wish her loved ones all the best, and would like them to know how much her years of service have been appreciated.

The Free-Store is still operating with reduced hours, and is open Thursdays from 9-1. Please ensure that any clothing you bring has been laundered, and that household items are in good condition. Our hardworking volunteers are keeping up with the donations, and doing your part will only make their work easier. Thank-you in advance for your cooperation.

The Recycling Depot continues to operate with Covid-19 protocols in place. We thank-you for your continued patience and for wearing a mask when you are inside any of the buildings. If anyone hasn't been to the Depot recently, we will be happy to clarify the Covid protocols.

If you haven't taken a stroll through the garden this spring, you will be delighted when you do. Besides the beautiful plants, you will also find artworks by Tom Knott and Ted Gooden.

We would like to remind everyone again to please call ahead when planning deposit drywall to ensure that our drywall bin is on the island and that there is room in the bin for your drywall before you come to the depot. As well please ensure that you have your waste disposal application out “before” you arrive at the recycling depot. The waste disposal application can be downloaded and printed at http://hirra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dry-Wall-Waste-Disposal-Application-March-2017.pdf. 

A reminder that our recycling depot will be closed on statutory holidays.

Thank-you to the committed volunteers who keep the gardens looking so good. Visitors have always commented on how special our Depot is.

And as always, we want to thank the Recycling Committee for their ongoing work and support, especially Jan Kennedy who has really gone the extra mile during this tumultuous past year. It's been a tougher than usual year for everyone.

We thank you all and see you up on depot hill.

Notes from the Depot for May 2021

 

We are experiencing a remarkably busy spring this year and are noticing many visitors. We are shipping one 40-foot roll-off bin of recyclables and two 40-foot roll-off waste weekly off the island. This of course has already led to some wait times for patrons here at the depot, as we are still required to follow strict physical distancing protocols. Our apologies for the inconvenience but we have to follow provincial guidelines.

We very much appreciate everyone’s participation during these strange times. Thank you to our patrons for their diligent mask wearing here up at the depot. We especially appreciate the some more creative mask designs we see, like the “clown” mask and many others.

The Free Store has reopened on a weekly basis and will be open on Thursdays from 9am till 1pm with COVID protocols and restrictions in place. Again please be prepared for the occasional line up.

We have been receiving a large amount of waste items in the “Frees Store Drop Off Bin”. Please insure that only laundered, wearable, and in order items are bought to the Free Sore.

The HIRRA executive proposed a shared RRSP contribution package to their employees which will be voted on at HIRRA’s next AGM this month. If accepted by the HIRRA membership and CUPE depot employees will be able to enter into a shared RRSP contribution plan in January of 2022.

This Earth Day April 22 2021, we received an enormous amount of man-made ocean debris brought to us by island volunteers. We are ever so grateful to all the volunteers who spend their valuable time combing the beaches for the waste that washes up and returns to our shores, and who then bring it up to our depot.

We would like to remind everyone again to please call ahead when planning to deposit drywall to ensure that our drywall bin is on the island and that there is room in the bin for your drywall before you come to the depot. As well please ensure that you have your waste disposal application filled out “before” you arrive at the recycling depot. The waste disposal application can be downloaded and printed at http://hirra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dry-Wall-Waste-Disposal-Application-March-2017.pdf.

As the CVRD’s landfills will be closed on statutory holidays as of January 1^st 2021 the HIRRA executive has decided to follow their example on Hornby and our recycling depot will also be closed on statutory holidays.

A reminder that we cannot accept any invasive plant species in our compost stream. Any invasive plant species needs to be deposited as waste and be landfilled. This is to protect the fragile eco systems here and on the big island. You can check out this link for more information. https://www.comoxvalleyrd.ca/sites/default/files/docs/Services/2toxic_invasive_plants_in_the_cv.pdf

…. See you up on depot hill

 

April notes from the Depot.

We are now well into spring here at the Hornby Island Recycling Depot which we can tell by the many new unfamiliar faces that we greet up on the hill. It is interesting to note that even though regular annual events that were canceled or have gone digital due to covid, did not result in lover visitors to the recycling depot. Even though our main attraction, “the free store” had been shut down for most of the year. We had a soft opening of our ‘free store” from November till March. We shout down the ‘free store during the spring break to ensure our staff and volunteer’s safety and the next day “free store” will be open in Thursday April 8.

Please note that we have added two new recycling streams to what we can collect and recycle and divert from the waste stream. We now are collecting candle wax and candles of any kind such as leftover candle tea lights. Just put your used tea lights or candles in our special candle bin. You do not need to take it out of the jar or container either. Just put it all right in the bin. The wax is recovered and used to make fire starters by OneLight in Powell River. Check them out on their website onelight.ca

The second new stream we are excited to ad are the hard plastic, 4 and 6 pack can clip made from high-density polyethylene, HDPE. The “pack can clips” are a PCR product, which stands for Post-Consumer Recycled and are made from #2 recycled milk jugs. In just 1 year over 100-million-gallon size milk jugs and other similar containers were diverted from landfills and used to make these carriers. These PAKs are 100% recycled and 100% recyclable. The PCR resin is used rather than producing new plastic, which means less energy, petroleum and greenhouse gasses are used. Please put these beer pack can clips into our special recycling bin so they may be re-used and or re-purposed into new products.

A reminder that it is mandatory to wear face coverings in the form of masks or face shields in the recycling building and free store. Masks must be worn in addition to staying at least 6 feet apart, especially when indoors around people who don’t live in your household. You need to wear a mask, even if you do not feel sick. This is because several studies have found that people with COVID-19 who never develop symptoms (asymptomatic) and those who are not yet showing symptoms (pre-symptomatic) can still spread the virus to other people. Wearing a mask helps protect those around you in case you are infected but not showing symptoms. If you are exempt from wearing a mask you need to be wearing a face-shield in its place. Please note that we are attempting to provide a safe place for everyone and require everyone’s co-operation to do this and are also required by WorkSafeBC and provincial directive to adhere to these protocols.

We would like to remind everyone again to please call ahead when planning deposit drywall to ensure that our drywall bin is on the island and that there is room in the bin for your drywall before you come to the depot. As well please ensure that you have your waste disposal application filled out “before” you arrive at the recycling depot. The waste disposal application can be downloaded and printed at http://hirra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dry-Wall-Waste-Disposal-Application-March-2017.pdf.

As the CVRD’s landfills will be closed on statutory holidays as of January 1^st 2021 the HIRRA executive has discussed similar cost saving practices here on Hornby and our recycling depot will also be closed on statutory holidays.

A reminder that we cannot accept any invasive plant species in our compost stream. Any invasive plant species needs to be deposited as waste and be landfilled. This is to protect the fragile eco systems here and on the big island. You can check out this link for more information. https://www.comoxvalleyrd.ca/sites/default/files/docs/Services/2toxic_invasive_plants_in_the_cv.pdf

…. See you up on depot hill

March 2021

February came and went with only one good snow fall that caused the recycling depot and free store to close. It seems that every February we are hit with the white stuff at least once. We hope everyone has managed well during the white out and we do apologize for any inconvenience the short depot closure last month may have caused.

Please note that we have added two new recycling streams to what we can collect and recycle and divert from the waste stream. We now are collecting candle wax and candles of any kind such as leftover candle tea lights. Just put your used tea lights or candles in our special candle bin. You do not need to take it out of the jar or container either. Just put it all right in the bin. The wax is recovered and used to make fire starters by OneLight in Powell River. Check them out on their website onelight.ca

The second new stream we are excited to ad are the hard plastic, 4 and 6 pack can clip made from high-density polyethylene, HDPE. The “pack can clips” are a PCR product, which stands for Post-Consumer Recycled and are made from #2 recycled milk jugs. In just 1 year over 100-million-gallon size milk jugs and other similar containers were diverted from landfills and used to make these carriers. These PAKs are 100% recycled and 100% recyclable. The PCR resin is used rather than producing new plastic, which means less energy, petroleum and greenhouse gasses are used. Please put these beer pack can clips into our special recycling bin so they may be re-used and or re-purposed into new products.

A reminder that it is mandatory to wear face coverings in the form of masks or face shields in the recycling building and free store. Masks must be worn in addition to staying at least 6 feet apart, especially when indoors around people who don’t live in your household. You need to wear a mask, even if you do not feel sick. This is because several studies have found that people with COVID-19 who never develop symptoms (asymptomatic) and those who are not yet showing symptoms (pre-symptomatic) can still spread the virus to other people. Wearing a mask helps protect those around you in case you are infected but not showing symptoms. If you are exempt from wearing a mask you need to be wearing a face-shield in its place. Please note that we are attempting to provide a safe place for everyone and require everyone’s co-operation to do this and are also required by WorkSafeBC and provincial directive to adhere to these protocols.

We would like to remind everyone again to please call ahead when planning deposit drywall to ensure that our drywall bin is on the island and that there is room in the bin for your drywall before you come to the depot. As well please ensure that you have your waste disposal application filled out “before” you arrive at the recycling depot. The waste disposal application can be downloaded and printed at http://hirra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dry-Wall-Waste-Disposal-Application-March-2017.pdf.

As the CVRD’s landfills will be closed on statutory holidays as of January 1^st 2021 the HIRRA executive has discussed similar cost saving practices here on Hornby and our recycling depot will also be closed on statutory holidays.

A reminder that we cannot accept any invasive plant species in our compost stream. Any invasive plant species needs to be deposited as waste and be landfilled. This is to protect the fragile eco systems here and on the big island. You can check out this link for more information. https://www.comoxvalleyrd.ca/sites/default/files/docs/Services/2toxic_invasive_plants_in_the_cv.pdf

…. See you up on depot hill

February 2021

2021 has started off busier than other winters. We are noticing that there are still many visitors who enjoying the island. We are noticing many summer residents this winter and are pleased to see so many familiar faces.

It has been several months now that the Free store, although in a limited fashion, has been open again. We are controlling traffic flow and are adhering to our COVID-19 policy and things are developing favorably. Our enthusiastic team of volunteers are sorting through the donations and are noticing that there are a lot of soiled items being deposited that at are not able to be put on the rack but end up in the waste bins. Please ensure that all donations are clean and not soiled. Note that the free store hours are Thursdays from 9am – 1pm.

A big thank you to all the free store volunteers for their hard work restocking the free store every week. We could not do it without you.

Thank you to Stevi for your artistic posters advertising the free store opening.

Thank you to Jan Kennedy for all your time and dedication to the free store re-opening and putting together our Free Store Covid Policy.

We would like to thank the regional district for our new cashier kiosk. It enables to maintain our Covid protocol and shelter our staff and equipment from the environment. We would also take this opportunity again to thank the regional district for our new propane cage. To minimize cost the cage was built on an existing concrete slab build by Michael Hornsby about 20 years ago that we repurposed.

We would like to ask everyone to please call ahead when planning deposit drywall and ensure that our drywall bin is on the island. As well please ensure that you have your waste disposal application filled out “before” you arrive at the recycling depot. The waste disposal application can be downloaded and printed at http://hirra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dry-Wall-Waste-Disposal-Application-March-2017.pdf.

Please note that the CVRD’s landfills will be closed on statutory holidays as of January 1^st 2021. The CVRD has been traditionally open on statutory holidays and in an effort to save money they will now be closed on statutory holidays. The HIRRA executive is discussing similar cost saving practices here on Hornby. We will let you know more once a decision has been reached.

We also wanted everyone be informed that we cannot accept any invasive plant species in our compost stream. Any invasive plant species needs to be deposited as waste and be landfilled. This is to protect the fragile eco systems here and on the big island. You can check out this link for more information.

https://www.comoxvalleyrd.ca/sites/default/files/docs/Services/2toxic_invasive_plants_in_the_cv.pdf

Thank you to the recycling committee, the HIRRA executive and staff for their support and time.

And Thank You to you, the recycler, who takes part in the Zero Waste philosophy.

 

…. See you up on depot hill

As the rains are settling in, we are finally slowing down at the Hornby Island Recycling Depot. Although we are in the midst of a global pandemic things are pretty much as usual when it come to the amount of waste that we have recycling that we have been transferring from our depot. Although we scaled back in the months from May to June, we have been much busier ever since the middle of June. It seems that the pandemic has not slowed down the consumption of consumer goods and we have been shipping one 40-foot roll-off bin of recycling every week ever since June. As well have been shipping one 40–foot roll-off bin of regular household waste of the island. 

We want to take the opportunity to thank everyone for their recycling efforts during these times. We are still practicing physical distancing protocols and are regulating the traffic flow here at the depot and we very much appreciate everyone’s participation. 

Our free store volunteers and recycling committee have been working hard to prepare a Free Store Reopening plan. As this article is being this Free Store Reopening plan is being reviewed by our regional district and we hope that we will be able to perform a “Soft Opening” before this year is over. Stay tune for more information as it become available. 

As we are now preparing our budget for 2021 for November’s HIRRA membership budget meeting we are realizing how different a year 2021 will be as we have to consider COVID-19 protocols. An increase in wages due to covid protocol seems to be unavoidable next year. Also are we increasing the waste pick up frequency of our beach access point in the shoulder season next year to accommodate the increase of the park's usage. We encourage everyone to participate in the budgeting meeting this November 11, 2020. This will be a ZOOM meeting and if you are interested in attending please make sure to request an invite from the HIRRA administrator at hornbyisresidentsratepayers@gmail.com. 

We would like to remind you again that we reintroduced the sale of Waste Tickets at $2 each in a book of 10 for $20.00 exact change or via INTERAC. They can of course be redeemed for depositing your waste at the depot and another reminder for everyone that our prices for waste disposal have increase from $1.75 for a small bag to $2.00 and from $3.75 for a medium bag to $4.00. The price for a large bag remains at $6.00. 

Another reminder for everyone that when depositing drywall please ensure that you have your waste disposal application filled out “before” you arrive at the recycling depot. The waste disposal application should be downloaded and printed at http://hirra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dry-Wall-Waste-Disposal-Application-March-2017.pdf. Please note that due to the current covid protocol in place we are not handing out these forms. 

Finally, we want to thank everyone who has been at the recycling depot these past months and has participated in our physical distancing protocol. Thank you so much. We know that sometimes the wait times prolonged your stay and we very much do appreciate your patience and commitment to the recycling cause. 

See you up on depot hill. 

October 2020

Reporting from a cloud of smog and smoke…. Summer is officially over. However we are still rather busy here at the recycling depot. Traditionally this time of the year is when things are slowing down a bit. However not this year. We are still receiving a large number of patrons daily. And a lot of new faces.

We thank everyone for their recycling efforts during these times. We are still practicing physical distancing protocols and are regulating the traffic flow here at the depot and we very much appreciate everyone’s participation.

Currently the Free Store is still closed however the Free Store volunteers did meet in September to discuss a “reopening”. They are in the process of creating a reopening plan. We will inform everyone as new news develops . 

We are now in the midst of preparing our budget for 2021 for the November HIRRA membership budget meeting. 2021 is going to be a different year to budget for as we have to consider COVID-19 protocols and the the unionization of our work force as well we were asked by the regional district to be looking at all the services we provide and maintain those  services at an affordable cost,  sustain stable services in support of the local economy,  adapt to the changing community priorities, realign resources to support community recovery initiatives, and communicate clearly about our actions.

For your convenience we reintroduced the sale Waste Tickets at $2 each in a book of 10 for $20.00 exact change or via INTERAC. They can be redeemed for depositing your waste at the depot and a reminder to everyone again that our prices for waste disposal have increase from $1.75 for a small bag to $2.00 and from $3.75 for a medium bag to $4.00. The price for a large bag remains at $6.00.

We would also like to remind everyone that when depositing drywall please ensure that you have you waste disposal application filled out “before” you arrive at the recycling depot. The waste disposal application can be downloaded and printed at http://hirra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dry-Wall-Waste-Disposal-Application-March-2017.pdf.

We follow the direction of the Ministry of Health and update our COVID protocol accordingly. We have brought the recycling station back into the recycling building this fall. We have installed a Plexiglas separation wall in the building that will protect our staff and enable to let the patrons do their recycling inside the recycling building, protected from the weather. We would like to encourage everyone to wear a mask while in the recycling building to do your recycling.

We want to thank everyone who has been at the recycling depot these past months and has participated in our physical distancing protocol. We know that sometimes the wait times prolonged your stay and we do appreciate your patience and commitment to the recycling cause.

See you up on depot hill.

September 2020.

 

Summer is over and we want to thank all our patrons who visited the recycling depot this summer and participated in the physical distancing recycling protocol that is currently in place. It was interesting to note that even though we are in the midst of a pandemic and our free store is closed, the summer of 2020 was an extremely busy one for the Hornby Island Recycling Depot. We were open Thursdays through Sundays and had an average of 100 to 120 patrons daily. Additionally, we serviced all of our commercial customers on Mondays. We consistently shipped one roll off bin of recycling weekly and often two. As every summer we shipped an average of 2 to 4 waste bins off the island.

We will be switching back to regular ours and will be open Fridays trough Sundays from 9am till 1pm after the labour day weekend. Our “commercial and large volume customers with accounts” day will return to Thursdays from 9am till 1pm.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank Lawrence Maude, also known as Lawrence the painter, for applying a protective sealant on the marvellous and fantastic mural tank Tessa Mythos painted for us. This protective sealant will extend the life of the artwork considerably.

This month our free store volunteers are meeting to discuss the reopening of the free store. They will be working on safety protocols to ensure their safety and procedures to help stopping the spread of the Corona virus. As more information develops, we will inform everyone.

We would like to remind everyone again that our prices for waste disposal have increase from $1.75 for a small bag to $2.00 and from $3.75 for a medium bag to $4.00. The price for a large bag remains at $6.00.

We would like to remind everyone that when depositing drywall please ensure that you have you waste disposal application filled out before you arrive at the recycling depot. The waste disposal application can be downloaded and printed at http://hirra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dry-Wall-Waste-Disposal-Application-March-2017.pdf.

For your convenience, we are now selling Waste Tickets at $2 each in a book of 10 for $20.00 exact change or via INTERAC. They can be redeemed for depositing your waste at the depot.

We are following the direction of the Ministry of health and will be updating our COVID protocol accordingly. We are working on a way to bring the recycling station back into the recycling building this fall. We are busy installing a plexiglas separation wall in the building that will protect our staff and enable to let the patrons do their recycling inside the recycling building, protected from the weather.

We would like to thank our summer staffers Nate Evans and Jason Long for helping us out this summer and also our full-time staffers Phil Bailey, Scot Hardy, Scott Sweeney, and Colleen Work for a tremendous job they all did during this COVID summer.

 

See you up on depot hill

Depot Summer 2020.

 

We would like to thank everybody who has helped us adjust to our new normal here up on Depot Hill. Thank you for waiting patiently in line for your turn to do your recycling and waste depositing and for having your interact payment ready for our site attendant. We also appreciate everybody’s participation in practicing physical distancing. Thank you also for pre-sorting all of your recyclables and depositing them in a timely fashion thus reducing and minimizing your fellow islanders wait time who are behind you in the lineup.

As physical distancing protocol requirements remain in effect there will be a restricted number of patrons allowed at the recycling station and the waste bin at the time. Please be advised that there will be wait times.

Note that we are now accepting all streams of recycling, refundable’s and household hazardous waste items again. The latter only on Fridays.

We are getting a lot of questions if the Free Store might be opening this summer and unfortunately, we have to inform everybody that the free store will remain closed for the time being. This is by no means a permanent state of affairs. There are discussions on how reopening could be accomplished, and we will update you as soon as there is news on how we are going to move forward.

We have switched to summer hours which are from Thursdays ‘til Sundays 9 AM till 1 PM until September 6, 2020.

Pricing for waste has increased slightly as of July 1, 2020 and it will now cost two dollars for small kitchen catches style bag, four dollars for medium regular green garbage bag and six dollars for an extra-large garbage bag.

Also available as of July 1 202 are waste tickets at a value of two dollars each. They can be purchased in a book of 10 via interact with your tap card or by depositing exact change or cheque in a collection dispenser with the site attendant and then used as a payment option at a later date.

When depositing drywall please ensure that you have you waste disposal application filled out before you arrive at the recycling depot. The waste disposal application can be downloaded and printed at http://hirra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dry-Wall-Waste-Disposal-Application-March-2017.pdf.

Thank you again for helping us moving towards zero waste by diverting waste and recyclables away from the land fill. We want to thank our recycling committee and the HIRRA staff and executive for their assistance in these trying times. Also a big thank you to our free store volunteers who we are missing and hope to practice the “reuse” portion of the three R’s with again soon.

 

See you all up on Depot Hill

June 2020

We are gradually adjusting to the new physical distancing protocols that have been established at the Hornby Island Recycling Depot. We are required to assure physical distancing measures are observed and you will find things have changed the way we now have two operate.

From the beginning on of this pandemic we had to close the free store and it seems that this will not change in the near future. We understand that the free store is a big part of Hornby Island and we are looking forward to a day when we can reopen in some sort of fashion.

Due to the strict physical distancing protocol we have two maintain we are experiencing lineups and wait times throughout the day. We have started our summer schedule early to provide more opening hours of the Recycling Depot.

We are now accepting most recycle packaging including refundables, household electric appliances and electronics, yard waste, compost and have now opened our Product Care Building again on Fridays to accept household hazardous materials.

We have started accepting payments via “TAP” interact services. You can pay using your credit or debit card or phone if it has a “TAP” function. This is also the chance to pay for the garbage you deposited prior to our ability to accept payments. We would like to thank all of you who have already done so. It is always nice to see how well the honor system works here on Hornby Island.

To expedite your recycling experience, it behooves you to do is much pre-sorting of your recyclables as possible at home. Not only will it reduce the time of your trip, but it also reduces the wait times of others who are waiting their turn behind you. Here’s a little list of the streams we collect, and we hope that this list will help you with your pre-sorting task.

Printed Paper; Corrugated Cardboard; Mixed Paper and Cardboard(Paperboard); Paper Cups Milk Gable Top Containers and Metal(Tin) Containers together; Plastic Bags and Overwrap; White Foam Packaging; Coloured Foam Packaging; Plastic Containers; Glass Bottles and Jars; Other Flexible Plastic Packaging; refundable alcoholic beverage glass container; refundable pop cans; refundable beer cans; refundable domestic beer; refundable plastic containers 1 L and under; refundable plastic beverage containers over 1 L; refundable plastic alcoholic beverage containers and coconut water.

We want to thank everyone for supporting the recycling cause and we really appreciate the care you take in your recycling and at practising physical distancing. Thank you from all of us up on the hill.

To conclude we would like to announce that after 29 dedicated years to the Hornby Island Recycling Depot Annie Nagle has retired in May. We wish her all the best in her retirement. Thank you for your dedication to the recycling cause.

May 2020.

 

Here is your corona crisis update from the Depot. We are working hard to keep our Recycling Depot running while implementing new health and safety standards to protect our employees and the public during this public health crisis thus we are only able to offer limited services and do apologize for this inconvenience.

If you or a member of your household has symptoms of COVID-19, do not visit the recycling depot until after your quarantine period has ended.

We are currently accepting household waste, compost, scrap metal, wood waste, branches and yard waste and recycling of packaging materials. At the moment we cannot accept any beverage containers that a refund has been paid on. That means unfortunately we cannot accept any containers that hold beer or wine or juice or pop or water etc. We are working on a solution and ask that you hold on to your refundable’s for the next little while. Your help in this is very much appreciated.

We request that you also hold on to your paints, batteries, oil and gas, pesticides, light bulbs and other household hazardous waste for the moment.

To assure social distancing can be practiced we are now regulating the traffic flow. So don’t be surprised that when you come up to the Depot that you may find yourself in a line up. Please come prepared and make sure all your recycling is presorted into glass, paper and cardboard, hard plastics, soft plastics, crinkly plastics, milk containers, soup containers and cans. This helps to speed up the process of recycling and reduces the time people are spend in the lineup.

We are working on a way to accept credit and debit payment via wireless keypad and you may soon be able to pay our attendant using tap. Those of you who have charge accounts can communicate with the attendant on how much you waste depositing. At the moment we are not accepting cash payments.

We will see how the social distancing requirements have adjusted by the time you read these notes.

We usually update you about this time of year on the Hornby Island Residents and Ratepayers Association’s Annual Generated Meeting and the elections of the recycling committee members. But due to the Covid 19 crises we have no details for you.

A reminder that the CVRD will be raising their tipping fees this summer and the Hornby Island Recycling Depot is planning to adjust our current price schedule as well. We will be increasing the price for a small bag from $1.75 to $2, for a medium bag from $3.50 to $4, and a large bag would stay at $6. All other pricing will remain the same.

 

Stay home, stay safe

 

 

 

April 2020

As this article is being written we are in full coronavirus protection mode. The well being of our staff, volunteers and patrons is of our utmost priority. We are working together with the CVRD and are following recommended safety protocol. Accordingly, until the current situation improves sufficiently, we have decided to temporarily close our Free Store. We are working on strategies on how to continue servicing the public with the new isolation guidelines in mind. 

Who knows if the measures we are taking now are sufficient to keep everyone safe? When this goes to print things will be different from what they are today.

We want to thank all our patrons who have been staying away from the depot. We really appreciate you.

Currently you will remain to deposit of your household garbage only in the open bins. No construction waste will be accepted. Please hold on to your recycling for the time being. We currently will not accept any money transaction and will be able to drop your waste during this time and pay us later.

We apologize to anyone who may be inconvenienced. We hope, obviously, that this is a short-term situation. However, for the well-being of all, we feel it is the most prudent course of action. Our thoughts remain with each of you experiencing difficulty at this time.

We hope that we will have developed a way to accept your recycling by the time you are reading these notes, but much depends on the directive we receive from health officials.

This forced slow down hopefully will allow us to play catch up on a number of projects at the depot.

We have demolished the old backhoe shed and we are hoping to work together with the trails committee and have a trail connection exit in its place.

The CVRD will be raising their tipping fees this summer and the Hornby Island Recycling Depot is planning to adjust our current price schedule as well. We will be increasing the price for a small bag from $1.75 to $2, for a medium bag from $3.50 to $4, and a large bag would stay at $6.

Stay home, stay safe.

 

March 2020

To squish or not to squish……That is the question that we’ve been hearing from some of our friendly recyclers who want to help us out and here is an answer. If you want to take the time to help in our recycling efforts, you can squish the milk and soup cartons. No squishing of “refundables” or glass of course. We thank you for your participation.

The negotiations with CUPE 556 and HIRRA have been completed and an agreement has been ratified. We would like to thank everyone at the negotiating table, who spend many hours hammering out this first “collective agreement” between HIRRA and the depot staff. Thank you to the HIRRA admin and bookkeeping staff for all the extra hours that were required to bring the agreement to a close. And thank you to the HIRRA executive, the recycling committee, and the membership who voted at the last HIRRA meeting.

We are spending more time these days removing air (baling) from the materials we ship off island. With our newly adopted compaction procedure we “save” approximately one shipping containers every fourth shipment. That is 15 less trips annually. Approximately.  Reducing our carbon footprint considerably. As we are baling all these extra containers it is essential that they are clean and empty when you bring them to us to be recycled.

We would like to remind everyone to make sure that all your recycling is free from any contaminants. Last month we received a load of recycling that contained rat faeces. A very unpleasant surprize for our staff first thing in the morning.

We can still use more “free store” volunteers during these slow season months. If you have any time to spare and would like to give some your time to the “free store” the volunteers would love to see you. Even a couple of hours a week can be of great assistance.

Thank you to all those who took part in our facebook poll and/or survey monkey survey.  As you might be guessing we are researching the Bin Guide position and your input was very helpful. We need to maximise the recycling at the depot and assure that no “recyclables” are land filled. Often, we find these “recyclables” in the waste bins that are headed to the landfill. A Bin Guide could assist patrons and advise on what should not be send to landfill. A bin guide could also assure that there is a proof of payment as we have been noticing customers forget to stop at the office to pay for their waste. Perhaps they do not even know that there is a charge and a Bin Guide could inform those users. Taking payments would make time available for the manager to manage. So’ we are discussing the idea of implementing such a Bin Guide in 2021 and would be welcoming any thoughts and comments.

We thank you all again for helping us to forge the way to Zero Waste.

 

…. See you up on depot hill

February 2020

 

We hope everybody had a good holiday season and that everyone stayed warm.

As this article is being written we are just digging our selves out of a record snowfall. A huge shout out to Scott Hardy who did an amazing job clearing the depot road and parking lot this January enabling our staff to get to work and service our customers.

We want to thank all of our staff for the work they do at the recycling depot and all the “Free Store “volunteers who put in such a tremendous amount effort and who dedicate so much of their time.

More “Free Store” volunteers are needed. Especially during this time of the year. If you have a few hours to spare? Come and join our volunteers. This can be any time from Thursday to Sunday during Depot open hours 9 AM to 1 PM.

Thank you also to Don Nixon of “Graydawn Printing” for our new sign about the recycling depot’s dumping policy. Check it out the next time you are at the depot.

We thank Jesse Lee and Stephanie Valdal, of the CVRD for their signage and all their support.

Thank you to the recycling committee, the HIRRA executive and staff for their support and time.

And Thank You to you, the recycler, who takes part in the Zero Waste philosophy.

 

…. See you up on depot hill

 


December 2019 and January 2020

 

Winter is here and things are still very busy up on Depot Hill. This is supposed to be this slow season. Since we recently started to compact and bale hard plastics in addition to the soft plastics which we already bale our workload has changed; and wow… there is a lot of hard plastics that needs baling. A big thank you to staff who have been instrumental realizing RecycleBC’s request and baling even more materials and thus reducing the carbon footprint of our little organization.

We will look into the possibilities of perhaps baling even more materials as we are moving forward.

Judith Walmsley has resigned from the recycling committee and the committee is looking for a new member. If you are interested or know of someone who might be interested in joining the recycling committee, please contact Jan Kennedy.

A special thank you to Margaret Gardner who has taken care of our books for many many years and now has moved to Vancouver Island. Margaret’s hard work and dedication will be missed and we hope that she will visit us often.

Thank you to all the volunteers who come to the free store and donate so much of their time sorting and stocking free store items. Without their dedication the free store would not be what it is today.

Thank you also to the Depot staff, our contractors, the recycling committee and everyone at HIRRA for all you do to help our little depot along.

The holiday season is upon us and for your gift giving ideas do not forget that our Free Store has a vast selection at unbeatable prices and the best return policy on the island. Enjoy the season.

 

Happy holidays from everyone up on Depot Hill

 

October 2019

With the cooler weather business at the Hornby Island recycling Depot is slowing down. An excellent time to play catch-up from all the summer influx. We are currently working on finding ways to bale more recyclables in the hope that we can reduce the frequency of recycling pickups. Most likely this will increase our labour requirements, but we think would be a good trade-off to reduce the recycling depots carbon footprint. As well less recycling trucks on our little ferry will leave more room for travellers to and from Hornby Island. We are also working to ship close to 20 3’ x 3’ x 3’ “mega bags “of electronics and electric appliances that we have collected in the last couple of months off the island.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank CVRD for our new backhoe shed. This new shed will provide a safe lock up for our backhoe for many years to come. The next step in this project will be the teardown of the old backhoe shed.

With the help of Reina LeBaron our HIRRA administrator we are working on a guide for dissolving estates in an environmentally conscientious fashion. We are often inundated with huge amounts of free store items that we cannot accept due to their condition. Many of these items will end up in the waste stream. We hope this guide will provide some useful information that will make the process of dissolving estates less painful.

We have been recently informed by the diabetes foundation that they can no longer accept our books. This leaves us in a predicament as we have no longer have a recycling stream for old books. So, you will find that our library may be a little more crowded these days We are researching ways to recycle the books that arrive here at the Depot. Until then if you have any books that you can deposit at the Salvation Army, goodwill, value Village or any other thrift store on the big Island it would help the recycling depot.

A shout out to all those who helped bringing waste and debris from the ocean’s shorelines to the recycling depot. We really appreciate your volunteerism and environmental consciousness and are happy never to charge for any beach waste that is brought up to the recycling depot.

As always, we would like to thank all those faithful volunteers who come and spend their weekends up on Depot Hill sorting donations for the free store. Thank you to all those amazing summer volunteers who spend their summer up on depot rather than the beach or their gardens. Thank you to our amazing staff, the recycling committee volunteers and the HIRRA executive.

September 2019                  

This summer has been a busy one for the Hornby Island Recycling Depot. We were shipping two forty-foot bins of recycling weekly. The ever-expanding scope of recyclables we collect enables us to collect over 50 separate streams. Way more than your average Blue Bin Program in the rest of this beautiful province. Did you know that the Blue Box program does not collect glass, Styro Foam and “crinkly” plastics? It is interesting to hear from patrons that live in other urban centres how much more can be disposed of in an environmentally consciences fashion here at the Hornby Island Recycling Depot. And how convenient our one stop centre is. Visitors are impressed how well we divert electronics, electric appliances, tires, oil, paint, batteries, scrap metal, compostable and many other household hazardous wastes in one single location. In urban and other rural areas, one has to travel all over town to dispose these items at several different participating collection sites. We are told by our visitors how great it is to have the option to deal with their waste Thursdays trough Sundays every week. Most of them have only one weekly pick-up and if something is forgotten that should have been tossed, they have to hold on to that trash for another week. We should all be proud for leading the way in recycling and the collecting of end-of-life products and diverting these streams in an environmentally sound fashion. By the way the shelves of the Free Store are bare as many visitors to the island are enjoying the goods up for offer at the Free Store. As well we were shipping two to four bins of waste weekly of the island. There seems to a be fair amount of construction going on as about 50% of the waste we ship of island is generated by the construction and demolition that is going on the island. All in all, a busy summer.

A great shout out to Alsoon Brine and Barbara Baird of the recycling committee for designing and co-ordinating the logistics of bringing you the “Pocket Ashtrays”. Discarded butts leach toxins into the environment and cause countless wildfires. These pocket ashtrays help prevent wildfires and prevent the leaching of toxins into the environment. They are being distributed for free (a $2.00 donation is suggested but not required) at several locations on the island and as well as at the recycling depot. We would like to also thank Gina-Rae Horvath for the amazing photograph of Tessa Mythos’s artwork and the recycling building that we used for the pocket ashtrays.

Thanks’ to the CVRD for building a new backhoe shed and adding additional ventilation to the Recycling Building this summer. As the old shed isn’t structurally sound anymore it will need to be demolished. We had planned a little ribbon cutting ceremony for the new shed, but it seems that summer was just too busy.

We want to thank Pat Hargrave for hosting our annual Volunteer and Staff Summer Party again. Thank you to Bill and Sheryl Fletcher for organizing the details. Fun was had by everyone.

And a tremendous thank you to all the volunteers who spent numerous summer hours sorting at the free store, for no pay whatsoever, making the Free Store possible for all the residents and visitors of Hornby Island. A thank you to the “Recycling Committee” and the “HIRRA” executive for dedicating many volunteer hours to help run our little depot. And a big Thank you to the staff for your commitment. 

July and August 2019

Summer is here and the we hope everyone will be able to keep cool as the temperature is going up up up. And so is our recycling stream. Did you know that we ship two 40-foot bins of recycling of this little island every week during July and August? Of course, that does not include the amount of good clothing and good stuff that thanks to our Free Store volunteers, who stock and sort all the donations, gets diverted out of the landfill. 

For those who are wondering we are now open Thursdays – Sundays 9 am till 1 pm.

We wanted to make everyone aware of an incident that happened at a metal recycling yard somewhere not so far from Hornby Island. A heavy machine operator was seriously injured when he accidently punctured a full propane tank that was under the scrap metal he was picking up with his machine. The tank exploded causing life-threatening injuries. We share this information with you in the hope that you will take every precaution and make sure that propanone tanks are deposited correctly when you drop them of at the depot. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. The staff will be happy to assist you.

Remember that Fridays is the days for all household hazardous materials. That includes propane tanks. Please note that we can not accept 100lb propane bottles. We accept light bubs, household paints, household pesticides, gasoline, solvents, batteries, antifreeze and oils. Please note that we can not accept commercial products or unidentifiable products (stuff without labels).

We will be selling T-Shirts again this year with the ever so popular slogan “Recycling makes me Hornby” in four fantastic colours. We had so many requests for that one we just had to rerun it. So, get yours while they are still some left. Last year we sold out in the most popular sizes rather quickly. Still only $20.00 each.

The recycling committee has been working hard in bringing you the Portable Pocket Ash Tray this year. Available almost everywhere on Hornby Island the little pocket ashtrays can help prevent forest fires, and we encourage every smoker to get one and use it while being out and about. These little Portable Pocket Ash Trays will be free, but we will gladly accept a donation to help pay for them. They will have the fabulous artwork of Tessa Mythos from our firefighting tank and some information printed on them. Thanks to Alsoon Brine and Barbara Bair for all the work that went into this one.

We are now selling heavy duty waste bags for drywall that can not be deposited at our site but can be brought to the Campbell River site. These bags are $2.50 each and come with instructions on how to dispose this material at the Campbell River site. If you have questions just ask us. We’re her to help.

 

June 2019

Greetings from depot hill. Summer is almost here and we are still looking for some extra hands to help us deal with the additional recycling the nicer weather brings. The Beach Access Waste Management contract is up renewal and we will be tendering it very soon so be on the lookout it. Let us know if you want to join our team of recyclers. You can contact us via email hiwmc@yahoo.com, phone 250 335 0550, the free post, or talk to us the depot.

This spring the Free Store was inundated by a large amount of stock from estates that have been left by people’s passing, unfortunately much was deposited in the waste bins. This got us thinking and we are brainstorming ideas to conceive some sort of “guide” on how to dissolve estates in an environmentally consciences fashion on Hornby Island.  If you have thoughts or ideas please contact us.

The CVRD is building a new backhoe shed and hope to have it ready by summer. We are thinking a ribbon cutting ceremony is in order. We will display some recycled art in the new building, have some refreshments and perhaps some music. Let us know if you want to take part.

The diabetes foundation can no longer accept our “RAGS” and only will accept clothing that can be resold/reused. Not repurposed. This means that only clean, not torn or soiled clothing should be dropped off at the Free Store. Torn and soiled clothing is garbage.

You will be noticing some changes in how we collect dead electronics and busted electronic appliances. If you know that the electronic gizmo you are offloading is dead; please don’t drop it of in the Free Store.  Please use the large “Mega-Bags” on the side of the recycling building. If you are unsure ask a staff member to assist you.

We have received a concrete pad adjacent to the recycling building. This will enable us to place a recycling bin on the same level as the recycling building and load the bin without the use of the back hoe.  We are looking forward to from freeing up space in the recycling building and loading the recycling as it accumulates will allow us to do so.  Did you know we ship one of these 40-foot bins of recycling every week? And in the nice weather twice as much.

Thank you again to all the volunteers who show up on their week end to keep the Free Store running, and thank you to the Recycling Committee and the HIRRA Executive for all their volunteer hours.  Thank you to the staff and for their dedication to the recycling cause.

May 2019

HIRRA’s AGM was held in April. For the first time in many years we had more members of the public interested to sit on the recycling committee than we have currently have seats for and there was an election. Kathy Sauve received the least numbers of votes and thus Judith Walmsley was voted in. We would like to thank Kathy Sauve for the many years of service she contributed to the recycling committee and are happy that, although not as a committee member” but at as an emeritus committee member, will still attend our meetings. We would like to welcome Judith Walmsley as our new committee member and are looking forward to working with her in 2019 and onward. Judith Walmsley is one of our Free Store volunteers and we value her experience and contributions.

Spring has sprung here at the Hornby Island Recycling Depot and Free Store. The daffodils and the spring blossoms of our fruit trees are blooming. And spring cleaning is bringing patrons with loads of materials to the recycling depot. As it is usual for this time of year we are inundated with stuff. Much of it is Free Store bound. Unfortunately, there is a lot that is not Free Store stock but garbage. The volunteers are asking for your participation in sorting unusable items from Free Store items and deposit them in the garbage.

We have had news that the Diabetes Foundation can no longer accept our “Rags”. That means the Free Store can no longer accept soiled, cut and dirty clothing. Please make sure that only items in good order are deposited into the Free Store. The volunteers thank you. Also make sure only working electronics are deposited in the Free Store. All non functioning electronics should be placed in the mega bags that are placed outside of the recycling building.  If unsure ask one of our staff and they will gladly guide you.

A reminder that the area behind the donations receiving table is for the Free Store volunteers. They need that space to sort and hang the donations that come in. Please respect their space during the opening hours.

If you are interested in joining our team at the recycling depot this summer, let us know. We are looking for help again this year during the months of July and August. We are offering four five-hour shifts. Thursdays through Sunday 8:30 am – 1:30 pm. Current pay rate is $16.39per hour. Leave us a resume in the Free Post, send it to hiwmc@yahoo.com or talk to us in the office if you are interested. 

To finish things of here is a fun thing to with leaky tea pots. Did you know that when the pot is buried in the ground so that the spout is sticking out, bumble bees will move in.  Now isn’t that a fun thing to try in the garden.  Let us know if it works.

April 2019

As this month’s article is being written the electric heater in the office is still working hard. Hopefully by the time this month’s article goes to print we can all welcome spring. The depot gardeners have been hard at work doing their wonderful gardening thing regardless of the temperatures.  You should check out the new garden gate John and Phillis have created. Thank you to Ceridwen Joy for wanting to take on   our overgrown willow fence. We know you will make it something beautiful. Thank you also to Una and Deborah doing that wonderful gardening thing all around the Recycling Centre. All your hard work is very much appreciated.

A Free Store volunteer asked that remind all parents when they are in the Free Store with their children to make sure their children are supervised. Please watch over your children carefully as they are many things that are in the reach. Old dirty shoes, smelly socks, toothpaste and many, many more things.

We have observed that several patrons of the recycling depot regularly refrain from remitting the deposit fee. We just wanted to spread the word that there actually is a fee to deposit garbage at the recycling depot. So tell all your friends :)

Please remember that there is a call out for more volunteer hands. More volunteers are needed in the Free Store. If you are interested in this fun volunteer opportunity, or know someone who might be interested, our volunteers are looking for up to ten more people per week for one to four-hour shifts. For more information you can contact the recycling depot or just show up at the Free Store during open hours and start sorting.

And a reminder that pre-sorting your Free Store items helps the volunteers. It takes so much time sorting thought broken hardware and broken toys, ripped and soiled clothing, molding books and clothing to find things that can be put out into the free store. So if all these items are kept out of the free store the workload of the volunteers would be well reduced.

Finally one last note. The HIRRA AGM will be taking place on April 10, 2019 at the Hornby Island community hall. Committee members are elected and if you are interested in joining the recycling committee this your chance for 2019. You can contact Jan Kennedy our committee chair, Reina LeBaron our HIRRA administrator or talk to us at the office.

March 2019

These past weeks we have been working hard to clear snow from the depot road and parking lot and I especially would like to thank Scott Hardy for going over and beyond of what is expected to make sure that our users have access to the recycling depot. I would like to thank Phil Bailey for shoveling snow and salting the pedestrian accesses areas continually throughout the past two weekends.  Thank you as well to Shawn Jamieson who at a moment’s notice has continuously made himself available for work when staff had called in sick.

Last year we shipped 34 forty yards bins of household garbage, 32 forty yards bins of recycling, 20 forty yards bins of carboard from commercial users, 14 forty yards bins of construction and demolition waste, 12 forty yards bins of scrap metal, seven forty yards bins of wood waste, three forty yards bins of branches and two twenty yards bins of drywall off island.

To date our solar panel array has produced 22.1 Mega watts total of clean energy, and 8.8 Mega watts was produced since last February’s reading.

We have started 2019 with a renewed focus on safety. Last month five staff members completed an Occupational 1^st Aid level 1 training course. This course was taught by John Heinnig at the fire hall.  We would like to thank John for teaching us the course and also thank Doug Chinnery for letting us use the fire hall for the training.  We have installed flags on our parking bollards to help drivers see the bollards as they are backing up towards them. We have installed an Eyewash Station that provides 15 minutes of clean tempered water and thus meets the new ANSI standards. Moving forward, our staff will be re-trained in WHMIS, WVH and other required training.

We would like everyone to know that there is a call out for more volunteer hands. More volunteers are needed in the Free Store. If you are interested in this fun volunteer opportunity, or know someone who might be interested, our volunteers are looking for up to ten more people per week for one to four-hour shifts. For more information you can contact the recycling depot or just show up at the Free Store during open hours and start sorting.

We also want to spread the word that pre-sorting your Free Store items helps the volunteers. It takes time sorting thought broken hardware and broken toys, ripped and soiled clothing, molding books and clothing to find things that can be put out into the free store. So if all these items are kept out of the free store the workload of the volunteers would be well reduced. And I think they deserve that respect. Don’t you?

Did you know that our most viewed Facebook post in 2018 was the little 40^th celebration video we did with 3259 people being reached and was followed by a picture of the new art work Tessa Mythos painted on our firefighting tank with 2670 views.

 

February 2019

 

The new year has arrived, and we hope everyone had a good holiday season. With new challenges and new energy and we will be working hard again this year to provide the best recycling and waste services to this little island.

 I spend a little time in Hamburg, Germany this past month to celebrate my mother’s 80^th Birthday. While I was there It was interesting to observe how recycling and waste is handled in this large European city. In the small apartment my mother lives she separates her plastics, paper, cardboard, glass and tin packaging and deposits some these materials in the appropriate waste containers in her apartment complex, others she deposits at collection sites close by. Her apartment building’s garbage and recycling waste containers are accessible 24/7 but she has to return batteries and other nasties during regular business hours of the participating collectors. There are recycling collections bins placed at intervals throughout the city for glass and paper/carboard or plastics that she uses.

There is a minimum 10 cent charge per shopping bag so many people in Hamburg carry a reusable bag with them. Germany is big on the Refundables idea. The average deposit paid on any drinking bottle including milk products is 20 cents and most everyone participates in getting their money back. My mother sure does.   Batteries have to be brought to participating collections centres to be deposited. Often a batterie retailer will also be a collection centre for batteries. The same goes for paint, pesticides and other nasties.

It was interesting to see how the concept of recycling has developed in this part of this earth.

I want to that Annie Nagle for holding fort in my absence.  As well I would like to thank Scott Hardy for creating a protective garden around our newly painted firefighting water tank. Our volunteer gardeners are exited can’t wait for spring to do their thing. Check it out the next time you are up at the depot.

A reminder that more volunteer hands are still needed in the Free Store and if you are interested in this fun volunteer job, our volunteers will be offering an orientation session early in the new year. They would like five to ten more people per week for on to four-hour shifts. For more info call 250 335 3229 or email nsnanua@yahoo.ca

We would like to thank all the volunteers who spent countless hours sorting at the free store, for no pay whatsoever, making the Free Store possible for the residents and visitors of Hornby Island; and a thank you to the “Recycling Committee” and the “HIRRA” executive for dedicating many volunteer hours to help run our little depot. And a big Thank you to all our staff for their commitment and hard work. 

Thank You.

 

November 2018

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Tessa Mythos whole heartedly for artistically painting our fire fighting water tank. You may have seen her progress this past month as she was working hard on transforming our firefighting tank. We are exceedingly happy with the amazing art work she produced for the Hornby Island Recycling Program.  Next time you are at the depot take a look at her work and be amazed. We would also like to thank HIAC for making this art happen at our little recycling depot. Thanks go out to the CVRD as well as they funded all the prep work and will fund sealing the art work as well. We also thank Lawrence Maude for taking on the job of prepping and priming the old rusted firefighting tank. Thanks to the Hornby Island Volunteers Fire Department for providing the primer for the tank and for updating the tanks valves. What a great outcome form a project that was instigated by Lynn Carmichael, former chair of the of HIAC, over five years ago. Thanks to her as well.

The pilot program Recycle BC started on June 1st,  adding an additional stream of plastics to our collection process is working well. Recycle BC diverts this stream of plastic to a Waste to Energy facility on the main land. We appreciate everyone cooperation and participation. If you want to find out more about this new program you can check out  their website at https://recyclebc.ca/flexiblepackaging/

Currently we are busy preparing the 2019 operating budget and are looking forward to presenting it to the membership at the next HIRRA meeting on Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at 7:30pm at NEW HORIZONS CENTER.

Thanks everyone for their co-operation in refraining from depositing drywall in the wrong places and partaking in the slightly laborious procedure we have been saddled with. This new system is working well and we have been able to divert over twenty yard from the land fill and have this martials shipped to a recycler. This material will be recycled into new drywall here in British Columbia.

We also would like to thank all the volunteers who spent countless hours sorting at the free store, for no pay whatsoever, making the Free Store possible for the residents and visitors of Hornby Island; and a thank you to the “Recycling Committee” and the “HIRRA” executive for dedicating many volunteer hours to help run our little depot. And a big Thank you to all our staff for their commitment and hard work. 

Thank You.

October  2018

Fall has arrived and things are slowing down once again at the recycling depot. We had a wonderful 40th anniversary celebration on September 8 2018 and want to thank all those who participated and celebrated.   Thank you to Reina LeBaron and her models who organized a fantastic free store fashion show. Thank you to Eleanora Laffin and Morgot Bushnell for displaying your fabulous quilts made from free store materials. Thank you to Don Innes and Catherine Cross for the recycling craft display. Thank you Dave Mills for sharing your recycled art with us. Thank you to Peter Huron, Tony Wilson, and Bill Smith for making some eclectic music for us that afternoon. And thanks to the Kritters for rocking the depot till closing. A special thank you to Jon Laskin for making us a special 40th anniversary cake. Fun was had by all. Thank you to the recycling committee , the free store volunteers and the staff for making this event such a memorable experience.

Thanks to everyone who bought a 40th anniversary celebration T-Shirt. We are almost sold out but  have a few left for sale at the depot.

Tessa Mythos has started to artistically paint our firefighting tank. Come and check out her progress next time  you are at the recycling depot. We are looking forward to see the finished product.

We have switched back to regular pricing and a regular bag of garbage is $3.50 a small bag is $1.75 and a large bag is $6.00. We are also now closed on Thursdays to the public.

Currently we are working on the 2019 operating budget for the recycling program witch will be presented to the HIRRA membership this  fall.

A big thank you to all the volunteers who spent  hours sorting at the free store, making the Free Store possible for the residents and visitors of Hornby Island.

See you all on depot hill.

September 2018

This summer has been a busy one for the Hornby Island Recycling Depot. We have shipped more recyclable and Refundables than in previous years. This is due to an increase in usership during the summer months and a broadening scope of the materials we can ship of the island to be recycled.

We want to thank Pat Hargrave for hosting our annual Volunteer and Staff Summer Party. Fun was had by everyone. The food was provided by Hornby Island Bakery and Pizzeria and was delicious. Thank you, Jon and Jane.

 Our 40th anniversary celebration is on September the 8th at the recycling depot during the regular depot hours. The Fall Fair will also be celebrating "Recycling" on September 9. It will be a full weekend of “Recycling Celebrations”.

Thanks to everyone who bought one of our 40th anniversary celebration T-shirts. We’re almost sold out of and have a few left for sale at the depot.

We would like to announce that the recycling committee selected Tessa Mythos to artistically paint our fire fighting water tank. We want to thank everyone again who submitted ideas to this great little project. We would also like to thank Lawrence Maude for taking on the job of prepping and priming our old rusted firefighting tank.

A big shout out to Peter Huron for lending his voice to our little recycling celebration video. Thanks go to Bob Cain for letting us use his archival photos and thank you Jake Berman for the drone footage he shot for us. Check out our facebook page to see the video if you have not yet done so. There is also a YouTube link on our website if you don’t facebook.

We would like to thank all the commercial customers who adapted to the new “Commercial Cardboard” routine and helped to make this transition as smooth as possible. We understand that it is not always easy to deal with the large amount of recycling that is created during the summer months by a commercial enterprise and appreciate you cooperation very much.

And a tremendous thank you to all the volunteers who spent summer hours sorting at the free store, for no pay whatsoever, making the Free Store possible for the residents and visitors of Hornby Island. A thank you to the “Recycling Committee” and the “HIRRA” executive for dedicating many volunteer hours to help run our little depot. And a big Thank you to the staff for your commitment. 

See you all up on depot hill.

July - August 2018

 

So it's been one month since we added an additional stream of plastics to our collection process. We now are collecting Stand-Up and Zipper Lock Pouches, Crinkle Wrappers and Bags, Flexible Packaging with Plastic Seals, Non-Food Protective Plastic Packaging (Bubble Wrap) and Woven and Net Plastic Bags. These are all part of the new stream of plastics collected by Recycle BC. Our staff will be available to assist you with any questions regarding this new plastics stream. This is a pilot project run by Recycle BC and we will see if this stream will be permanently added by the end of 2018.

We are now in full swing preparing for the 40^th anniversary this September. Our celebration at the depot will be on September 8^th  during the regular depot day and the Fall Fair will be celebrating "Recycling" on September 9. It will be a full weekend of Recycling Celebrations. If you are interested in being part of the celebration team let us know. We have a sign-up sheet in the office for all those interested. We will be having a band, an art show in the depot garden, some treats, and more. And for those who are wondering………….. There will be cake.

We also wanted everyone to know about our new 40^th Celebration T-Shirts that are now on sale at the recycling depot. We wanted to thank everyone who submitted ideas. We are very happy with the design that was created by the super talented Tyler Mason from a design idea submitted to us by Reina LeBaron. THANK YOU!

Our website has received an update and you can check it out at hirre.ca/recycle/. There you find important information about the new drywall processing requirements and links to pertinent forms.

We also wanted to apologize to all the artist who have submitted a design for the Get Tanked project. We have made some mistakes in the original call for proposals and now, to satisfy all of HIACS requirement, we will be issuing another call for submissions soon. We are working hard to have the next call for submissions contain all the requirements HIAC requires. Again, our apologies and look out for the new call for the Get Tanked project at the recycling depot.

Thanks to Doug Chinnery and the Hornby Island Volunteer Fire Department for helping us out with upgrading our Fire Fighting Tank and donating all the paint to have it primed for our little art project.

We would like to remind everyone again that we are now accept interact and credit card payments. We hope that this service will serve everyone well making it more convenient to pay for your garbage.

Thank you to all the volunteers who spent countless hours sorting at the free store, for no pay whatsoever, making the Free Store possible for the residents and visitors of Hornby Island. And thank you to the “Recycling Committee” and the “HIRRA” executive for dedicating many volunteer hours to help run our little depot. And a big Thank you to the staff for your commitment. 

See you all up on depot hill.

June 2018 

Get ready to recycle even more. As of June 1, 2018 we will be adding an additional stream of plastics to our collection process. We will be collecting Stand-up and Zipper Lock Pouches, Crinkle Wrappers and Bags, Flexible Packaging with Plastic Seals, Non-Food Protective Plastic Packaging (Bubble Wrap) and Woven and Net Plastic Bags. These are all part of the new stream of plastics collected by Recycle BC. Our staff will be available to assist you with any questions regarding this new plastics stream.

You may know already that the recycling depot and free store will be having its 40th anniversary this September. We will be having a celebration at the depot on September 8th. If you are interested in being part of the celebration team let us know. We have a sign-up sheet in the office for all those interested.

And for those who are wondering………….. There will be cake.

As we are writing this article we are still looking for some summer staff. We are looking for material handlers and are offering part time positions at 20 hours per week. The current rate of pay is $17.22/hour and we are looking for people to work Thursday through Fridays. If you are interested in joining our team of recyclers stop by at the office, call us at 250-335-0550, email us at hiwmc@yahoo.com or drop us a line in the Free Post.

Currently our regional district is researching “Waste to Energy” solutions for our region. Your recycling committee is requesting the HIRRA membership to write a letter in opposition to WTE solutions to the CVRD board. If you feel strongly about this topic, please get in touch with our committee members and let them know your views. They are Jan Kennedy, Kathi Sauve, Barbara Baird, Ilze Raudzins and Alsoon Brine. You can also talk to our HIRRA executive members President Rob McCreary, Vice President Linda Manzer, Treasurer Lynn Nunley or Secretary Anita Lewis.

Our website has received an update and you can check it out at hirre.ca/recycle/. There you find important information about the new drywall processing requirements and links to pertinent forms.

We would like to remind everyone again that we are now accept interact and credit card payments. We hope that this service will serve everyone well making it more convenient to pay for your garbage.

Thank you to all the volunteers who spent countless hours sorting at the free store, for no pay whatsoever, making the Free Store possible for the residents and visitors of Hornby Island. And thank you to the “Recycling Committee” and the “HIRRA” executive for dedicating many volunteer hours to help run our little depot. And a big Thank you to the staff for your commitment.  

See you all up on depot hill.

May 2018

The first quarter of 2018 has been business as usual at the Hornby Island Recycling Depot.

We collected and shipped five 40-yard bins of household garbage, two bins of construction waste, two wood waste bins, three scrap metal bins and eight bins of recycling of the island. We shipped twelve skids of “Product Care” materials so far.  Our drywall diversion program collected one 20-yard waste bin full of dry wall scraps and old drywall

We are collaborating with HIAC on having our firefighting tank painted artistically this year and we are looking for ideas and artist to help us to complete this project. We hope to convert the tank, so our volunteer firefighters can easily connect their equipment at the same time. The cost for prepping the tank would be covered by the CVRD and HIAC has some monies available for the artistic component. If you or you know someone that wants to get involved in this project? Contact us. Submission deadline has been extended to May 15^th, 2018.

Recently we updated our website and it is now easily accessible through the HIRRA website or by going directly to www.hirra.ca/recycle/. We want to take this opportunity to thank Bob Cain for letting us use his pictures on our history page. As many of you know September 2018 will be an important date for the Hornby Island Recycling Depot for it marks the 40^th anniversary of Reducing Reusing and Recycling up on the hill. We are planning a celebration for this important event. We are currently talking to musicians, artists and volunteers to participate. We hope to have a T-Shirt available for sale as a fund raiser to help cover celebration cost and the recycling committee is researching other funding avenues. We would like to thank all the volunteers who spent countless hours sorting at the free store, making the Free Store possible for the residents and visitors of Hornby Island.A big thank you to the “Recycling Committee” and the “HIRRA” executive for dedicating many volunteer hours to the Recycling Depot., also we would like to acknowledge Scott Hardy, Scott Sweeney Annie Nagle, Phi Bailey and Shawn Jamison for their hard work and dedication.

See you all up on depot hill.

April 2018

Notes from the Depot………………………….

The Hornby Island Recycling Depot wants to get tanked.  More precisely we want to artistically have our water tank painted. We are working together with the Hornby Islands Arts Council and their tank painting project “Get Tanked” that has so magnificently beautified the island fire fighting tanks. We are currently looking for an artist and idea for the tanks artwork. There is some money available form the Hornby Islands Arts Council for this project’s artist and the dead line for submissions is April 30, 2018. If you are interested and need some more information please contact us via the Free Post, email at hiwmc@yahoo.com, phone 250 335 0550 or at the depot office.

We wanted to thank everyone for all the wonderful design submissions for our 40th anniversary T-Shirts and we will unveil the winning design shortly. Many of you have seen the contenders on the recycling depots FaceBook page. We hope you enjoyed the pre-view. Will your favorite be chosen?

The 40th anniversary of the Recycling Depot and Free Store is coming and closer. We may bee looking into hiring a “Co-ordinator” to make sure everyone’s great ideas come to fruition, and if you think that you have the stuff to “Co-ordinate” this fabulous event talk to the Recycling Committee or the manager at let us know that you are interested. We have laid some ground work already. We hope that there will be band of musicians making some noise with instruments made from recycled materials. Now wouldn’t that be fun.

A reminder that the elections for “Committee Members of Hornby Island Committees” is approaching fast and if you are interested in being part of our great little recycling committee let HIRRA, our committee members or the management know that you would like to be part of a great thing.

Our website has received an update and you can check it out at hirre.ca/recycle/. There you find important information about the new drywall processing requirements and links to pertinent forms.

We would like to remind everyone again that we are now accept interact and credit card payments. We hope that this service will serve everyone well making it more convenient to pay for your garbage.

Thank you to all the volunteers who spent countless hours sorting at the free store, for no pay whatsoever, making the Free Store possible for the residents and visitors of Hornby Island. And thank you to the “Recycling Committee” and the “HIRRA” executive for dedicating many volunteer hours to help run our little depot. And a big Thank you to the staff for your commitment. 

See you all up on depot hill.

March 2018

Notes from the Depot………………………….

Winter seemed to be on the way out as last months article was being written. In February however we were stuck in the snow for good.  We had to close one Sunday as we received so much snow that the roads where not cleared in time for us to make it to the depot. Only Scott Hardy, hardcore as he is, walked all the way to the depot so he could clear it of the white stuff in time for us to open the following week. So, a BIG hearty “Thank You” Scott Hardy for going the extra mile.

As we have been mentioning before, the 40th anniversary of the Recycling Depot and Free Store is this upcoming September. We are planning a celebration and are looking for your input, ideas and help. We may bee looking into hiring a “Co-ordinator” to make sure everyone’s great ideas come to fruition, and if you think that you have the stuff to “Co-ordinate” this fabulous event talk to the Recycling Committee or the manager at let us know that you are interested. We have laid some ground work already. We hope that there will be band of musicians making some noise with instruments made from recycled materials. We have spread the word that we are looking for a T-Shirt design and are happy to say that they are coming in. The deadline for the T-Shirt design submissions is the 31st of March 2018. So, if you have an idea share it with us. Who knows it might be used and someone in Hawaii may be walking around with a T-Shirt that you designed. (We know many Hornby visitors and residents hang out in Hawaii at times.)

The annual elections for “Committee Members of Hornby Island Committees” is approaching fast and if you are interested in being part of our great little recycling committee let HIRRA, our committee members or the management know that you would like to be part of a great thing.

We would like to remind everyone again that we are now accept interact and credit card payments. We hope that this service will serve everyone well making it more convenient to pay for your garbage.

Thanks again to all the volunteers who arrive every weekend and do their thing to make our “Free Store” unique and a wonderful thing. Countless hours are spent by these volunteers, for no pay whatsoever, making the Free Store available to the residents and visitors of Hornby Island. And thank you to the “Recycling Committee” and the “HIRRA” executive for dedicating many volunteer hours to help run our little depot. Thanks to you all.  See you all up on depot hill.

 

Advocato shells serving as starting pot