November 2010

Recycling & Environmental Action & Planning Society
REAPS
Hotline 250-561-7327
Website www.reaps.org
COMING EVENTS

Cinema CNC @7 p.m.
Room 1-306 WASTELAND
13
Theatre North West's 2010
International Wine Festival
13
A Healthier You Expo
19 - 28
Festival of Trees—Civic Centre
22 - 23
Fostering Sustainable Behaviour
26
UNBC'S WELDWOOD
THEATRE film "Water: The
Great Mystery" 7 pm
27
REAPS Annual Recycle Toy Drive
10 - 2 p.m.
DECEMBER
18 - 20
Celebration of Lights- Railway and Forestry Museum
25
Christmas Day
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
2
Web Pick
Book of the Month
Box City ...
Volunteer Opps
Local News
November 2010
REAPS has been hosting the Annual
Recycle Toy Drive for 14 years. It
started when members saw the
need during Christmas at various
local children advocacy groups who
were struggling to provide gifts for
the children registered with them.
The spirit each year has grown from
serving 5 to 15 local charities and a
few in need families that are
brought to our attention. REAPS
also supports the local SPCA with
the collection of pet items and blankets for the shelter.
REAPS asks the community to
participate by donating QUALITY
used toys that have been outgrown
or no longer played with.
boxes of quality used toys that were
distributed during the holiday
season.
Volunteers from the community contribute to the event with toys, helping with the sorting, boxing and
deliver of the toys to the groups.
This year the event will take place
Saturday, November 27 from 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m. at REAPS 1950 Gorse
Street.
Volunteers are needed to assist with
sorting, boxing and distributing toys.
If you are able to volunteer please
email [email protected] or call
250-561-7327.
3
Last year REAPS collected over 200
Fostering Sustainable Behaviour
Celebration of Lights
PG Photo Contest
Graphics from Vancouver 2010
A Healthier You Expo
Around BC
Email [email protected]
REAPS 14th Annual Recycle Toy Drive
NOVEMBER

Rotten Pumpkin Festival @
Exploration Place 3 - 6 p.m.
REAPS News
REPORT
4
Could Hogfuel be Ablerni’s …
Landfill Offset Project
Around Canada
5
Canada Declares BPA Toxic
Alternative Energy with Plastics
Around the World
6
Walmart Sows Major ...
Celebrate Holidays …
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul needs plastic, grocery store shopping
bags and clean plastic containers with lids (yogurt/sour cream/cottage
cheese containers. 500ml, 750 ml and 1 liter sizes with matching lids are the
best sized containers.) We package leftover food for distribution at the Drop-In
Centre. Shopping bags are needed daily. Drop your donations at The St.
Vincent de Paul Drop in Centre is located at 1220 2nd Avenue (2nd & Dominion).
The best time for drop off is from 830 am to 4 pm Mon. to Fri.
7
Did You Know?
Back Page
Dumpy’s Tip of the Month
Recycle Craft
Membership Application
8
The holidays may be the most wonderful time of the year, but it's also the most wasteful. They
bring what seems like an environmentalist's worst nightmare: tons of extra garbage, millions of
chopped-down trees, and megawatts of flashing lights. With a little tweaking, however, you can
be kind to the environment and still celebrate in style.
PAGE 2
REAPS
REPORT
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WE B S I T E
REAPS NEWS
Web Pick of the Month
Book of the Month
http://www.climatecounts.org/
I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas
Fights climate change by helping consumers use
their choices and voices to put pressure on the
world’s largest companies to take corporate climate
action.
Gifts, Decorations, and Recipes that Use Less and
Mean More By Anna Getty
60 color photographs, printed on uncoated 100%
post-consumer waste recycled paper
ISBN 9780811867672
TERRACHOICE RELEASES THE SINS OF GREENWASHING STUDY
2010: HOME AND FAMILY EDITION
October 26, 2010 – For release in Canada and the United States In
2010, the Sins of Greenwashing: Home and Family Edition has been
launched to update the state of knowledge of environmental claims, to focus
particular attention on home and family products, and to add a constructive
perspective to the debate. http://sinsofgreenwashing.org/findings/greenwashing-report-2010/
“Box City” - Student Sharing Community Solutions
REAPS presented at the 20th Annual Provincial B.C. Student Leadership Conference from October 21 - 23, 2010. (BCSLC) hosted by the College Heights Leadership and friends from
School District#57.
BCSLC placed a high importance on the actual outcomes (the SOLUTIONS) that were the
product of the workshops and seminars. In other words, students and teachers left the Conference with organized and articulated actions plans for improvement in their homes, their schools
and their communities.
VOLUNTEER
OPPORTUNITIES
Contributions from volunteers
are fundamental to every
community. Exciting opportunities are available with REAPS;
join others in promoting the
3Rs & providing Environmental
Education in our community.
The 3 major themes for the Conference and Workshops were:
1.
Environmental Solutions: how can we reduce our individual and collective carbon footprint in schools, at home, at work, etc.?
2.
Illiteracy Solutions: How do we reach out to vulnerable children/youth and their families to
encourage literacy at all ages?
3.
Poverty Solutions: How do we reach out to vulnerable families and individuals in our
communities? How can we help solve the problem of child poverty?
REAPS in partnership with Communities in Bloom presented ―Box City‖ a program, where students develop a deeper understanding of how their communities are planned and work through
hands-on team activities. Students are exposed to the issues and challenges of community
planning, and provided with ideas on how they can become involved in what is built, planned,
preserved and done in their own communities.
RECYCLE TOY DRIVE Volunteers will be needed to
assist with receiving, sorting,
boxing and delivering toys to
community groups in PG on
Saturday, November 27th
MANNING COMMUNITY
BOOTHS - Various times
throughout the year REAPS
participates at community
events / fairs with a display
booth. If you have some time
and are interested in responding to participants
WRITERS - If you think you
have something to contribute
to this newsletter, your words
would be greatly appreciated.
OTHER - If there is anything
else you would like to help out
with, please give us a call to
discuss your ideas.
HO T LI NE 2 5 0 - 5 6 1 - 7 3 2 7
REAPS
PAGE 3
REPORT
LOCAL NEWS
CELEBRATION OF LIGHTS ~
DECEMBER 18-24
Come and celebrate the season with the
Prince George Railway & Forestry Museum! SANTA IS WAITING FOR YOU!!
Enjoy our beautiful Christmas village,
rides on the Cottonwood Railway, hot
chocolate and roasting hot dogs around a
bonfire, making Christmas crafts, and
skating (weather permitting). Open December 18 to December 24, 4:00 pm 8:00 pm.
Submit a photo to our myPG Flickr site
that you have taken to best express
what you love about PG. Select images
will be used as part of a Prince George
photo essay to be presented at the final
public review of the draft myPG OCP.
Three top photo selections will be made
by a panel of judges to earn bragging
rights and some cool prizes. The
"myPG by design: myFAVE PG Photo
Contest" is a contest run by the City of
Prince George.
All questions regarding the contest rules
should be directed to the Communications Assistant, 1100 Patricia Boulevard,
City of Prince George, BC, V2L 3V9, or
Telephone: 250-561-7655 . Deadline
November 20, 2010
Graphics from Vancouver 2010 Winter Games
Recycled into Floor tile
The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games may be behind us but parts of the
Games are seeing new life as new products. 3M Canada and Mannington Commercial joined forces to recycle approximately 200,000 square feet of the largeformat graphics from the Games into recycled flooring.
The large graphics from 3M were used to decorate several key venues at the
Games, including the Richmond Olympic Oval, the Vancouver Olympic and
Paralympic Centre and the Pacific Coliseum. Additionally, the graphics were
used on some 500 buses, 4,600 vehicles and eight ice-surfacing machines.
After the Games, the graphic materials were
peeled off manually, balled up and placed in
clear bags before being collected in containers
for transport. The containers were consolidated and sent to Mannington’s New Jersey
manufacturing facility, where the material went
through several different processes before
being made into floor tiles.
A Healthier You' Expo & Forum
Promoting Healthy Living Across Cultures. This year’s event
hosts booths for everyone in the community to explore and
learn about services and products available to them to encourage healthier lifestyles. There are a number of seminars and
fitness participation/demos scheduled which are all free for the
public to attend.
Saturday, November 13
10:00am-4:00pm Prince
George Civic Centre
REAPS
HO T LI NE 2 5 0 - 5 6 1 - 7 3 2 7
REPORT
PAGE 4
AROUND BC
Could hogfuel be Alberni's clean energy of future?
Wawmeesh G. Hamilton
Alberni Valley News
District energy stoked with Catalyst hog fuel has
attracted the interest of a group of Austrian businessmen. The men were in town on Tuesday to
view the Catalyst operation and meet with some
local stakeholders at city hall.
Catalyst burns hogfuel that creates steam, which
subsequently is turned into electricity. The paper
mill consumes 272,000 tonnes of hog fuel each
year using woodchips and some tires.
October 08, 2010
before coming here. They’re visiting Prince
George next.
The delegation’s members specialize in providing
district energy using various fuel sources and are
looking at expanding their operations into Canada.
―Austria is one of the most advanced countries in
the world when it comes to district energy solutions,‖ Deakin said.
A report penned for the city in early summer noted
that excess energy from this process could be
used to heat various institutions in the city.
The arc of events leading to the visit started with
the conclusion of the integrated resource recovery
report released by the city last spring.
The Austrians agreed that the opportunity for such
an operation is enormous. But one city councillor
wonders if officials here see that potential as
clearly.
Produced by consultant Steven Saulter, the report
examined potential district energy options that
could be utilized in the city.
The 10 men represented Austrian companies that
deal with district energy projects. Two other men
were from the Canadian consulate in Austria and
another was from the country’s safety authority.
Roland Rossi, a trade commissioner with the Canadian consulate in Austria, assembled the group.
Rossi has been working on bringing Austrian biomass technology to Canada for a number of years.
At $8-million to institute in Port Alberni, the Catalyst hogfuel option was seen as the most cost
efficient. To a man, the delegation was surprised
at the price. ―We could do that for half,‖ one said.
Institutions that could potentially be heated by the
proposed method included the hospital, Echo
Centre, North Island College and new high
school—collectively.
The report noted that 2 megawatts of energy
would be required to fuel a district energy program
here. Catalyst produces enough hogfuel energy to
meet that requirement, Port Alberni mill manager
Tom Paisley said.
Aigner’s company, Ebitec Biomass, is a different
animal than the others. In addition to assembling
apparatus to utilize biomass energy it can do the
same for energy produced from garbage.
―People call me the garbage man.‖ The company
uses various types of garbage including waste
from medical facilities. ―The technology is clean
and it’s better than a landfill,‖ Aigner said. ―There
should be a carbon tax on landfills because of the
C02 they produce.‖
Aigner sees possibilities in communities like Port
Alberni. The lack of existing district energy operations, competition and energy prices are attractive.
―Waste incinerators are very common so there is a
lot of competition in Europe,‖ he said. ―And the
electricity and gas prices here are very low compared to Europe.‖
The meeting was cursory and further discussions
will be held in the future, Deakin said. ―They want
to go to a community where they are serious about
district energy. ―There’s certainly an opportunity
here.‖ Coun. Jack McLeman listened intently to
the delegates’ questions. The concept is good, he
said, but only the Austrian’s may know how good
for now. ―They know it’s a great opportunity but
the question is do we know it,‖ he said. ―I don’t
think so yet.‖
A recent change in engineering standards by the
province paved the way for such technology to be
brought here, he said. ―I put out a call to the economic development officers in B.C. and some have
responded,‖ Rossi said.
The hogfuel site would have to be modified to
accommodate such an operation but the operation
Port Alberni economic development manager Pat
is doable, delegation member Sepp Aigner said.
Deakin was among those who contacted Rossi
―Canada is 20 years behind in this kind of technoland invited the group to Port Alberni. The group
ogy,‖ Aigner said. ―But the technology is relatively
visited Port Hardy, Campbell River and Comox
simple to assemble and maintain.‖
Landfill Offset Project to Provide Green Energy
VICTORIA – Pacific Carbon Trust and the Columbia
Shuswap Regional District have forged an agreement
on a landfill offset project that will convert methane
into energy for B.C. homes, announced Pacific Carbon
Trust CEO Scott MacDonald.
―The revenues from this offset project will help the
Columbia Shuswap Regional District achieve its maximum economic potential in addition to the key benefits
of better air quality and a cleaner environment,‖ said
MacDonald. ―This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms
of how communities across B.C. can engage in the
low-carbon economy.‖
―The planned capping of the first phase of the Salmon
Arm landfill provided the opportunity to explore an
active landfill gas collection and destruction system in
advance of the regulation,‖ said CSRD chair Ron
Oszust. ―The innovative partnerships formed between
the CSRD, Terasen Gas and Pacific Carbon Trust
allows for the maximization of environmental protection and economic returns.‖
The methane capture project is expected to generate
10,000 tonnes of offsets annually, equivalent to taking
approximately 2,625 cars off the road for one year.
Upgrading the landfill gas to pipeline-quality natural
gas through infrastructure supplied by Terasen Gas
will generate between 20,000 and 35,000 Gj of energy
per year – enough energy to supply heat and hot
water needs to over 300 homes in the area. This will
be Terasen’s first biomethane landfill project.
―The benefits of turning this potent greenhouse gas
into cleaner energy instead of letting it leak into the
environment are clear,‖ said Minister of State for Climate Action John Yap. ―This is a highly effective way
for the regional district to meet a provincial requirement for all large landfills to have their methane gas
collection systems in place by 2016.‖
NEWS RELEASE
PCT-N 10-006
making long-term energy investments that will help
address B.C.’s climate change goals,‖ said Doug
Stout, Vice President, Energy Solutions and External
Relations at Terasen Gas and FortisBC. ―Delivering
biomethane through our distribution system makes
good sense and is a natural extension of the energy
services we’ve provided customers for more than a
century.‖
Under the B.C. Landfill Gas Management Regulation,
in 2016 all B.C. landfills generating 1,000 tonnes or
more of methane each year will be required to install a
landfill gas management system. This requirement
―This is a creative agreement that will extract both
supports the Province’s commitment to reduce provinenergy and revenue from our locally produced waste,‖ cial greenhouse gas emissions by at least 33 per cent
said Shuswap MLA George Abbott. ―The conversion
below 2009 levels by 2020. Methane has 21 times the
will cut down local air pollution and help B.C. to reduce global warming potential of carbon dioxide.
its contribution to global emissions.‖
By implementing this project in advance of the 2016
Under the project design, methane released from the
deadline, the Columbia Shuswap Regional District is
landfill will be captured before it can enter the atmosable to use offset revenues to help pay for the develphere. The methane will be cleaned and converted
opment and installation of the new capture and coninto natural gas, and then piped in to Terasen’s trans- version system.
mission and distribution network.
This is Pacific Carbon Trust’s first landfill methane
―As one of the first utility companies in Canada to
capture offset project. The new facility is expected to
include alternative energy solutions as part of its regu- begin operation in November.
lated energy service offerings, we are committed to
HO T LI NE 2 5 0 - 5 6 1 - 7 3 2 7
REAPS
REPORT
PAGE 5
AROUND CANADA
Canada declares Bisphenol A toxic
(AFP) – 10/14/10 http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gPtEOraKvc4gOS90zK4WACV-9Kjg?docId=CNG.bd6bd0d86d63f1a0e61b464e310712d2.dc1
OTTAWA — Canada has become the first country in the
world to declare as toxic
Bisphenol A, a compound used
in many consumer products,
despite opposition by the
chemical industry.
The move comes only two
weeks after the European
Food Safety Authority said the
chemical, commonly referred
to as BPA and used in some
baby bottles and plastic and
canned food packaging, poses
no health risks.
France and Denmark, as well
as Australia and some US
states, however, have independently limited its uses.
On Wednesday, the compound
was formally listed without
fanfare by the Canadian government as being toxic to both
the environment and human
health in an official notice.
ing.
"A scientific assessment of the
impact of human and environmental exposure to Bisphenol
A has determined that this
substance constitutes or may
constitute a danger to human
health and the environment,"
said the announcement in the
Canada Gazette.
Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said Canada is the first
country to take such "bold action."
"Canadians can rest assured
that we are working hard to
monitor and manage Bisphenol
A," added Environment Minister Jim Prentice.
Canada was
also the first
to ban its use
in baby bottles in October 2008
after tests showed it can affect
neural development and behaviour in laboratory animals
exposed in the womb or very
early in life.
As well, it may be concern for
human fertility, as it has been
shown to disrupt hormone systems in animals.
BPA is made from petroleum
and, according to the government, Canadians are exposed
primarily through food packag-
Bisphenol A is also used in the
manufacture of epoxy resins,
which act as a protective lining
on the inside of metal-based
food and beverage cans.
Global production of the
chemical was estimated at four
billion kilograms per year in
Over 130 studies over the past 2006.
decade have also linked even
low levels of BPA to serious
Approximately half a million
health problems, breast cankilograms was imported annucer, obesity and the early onally into Canada in products,
set of puberty, among other
but this has decreased subdisorders.
stantially since 2006, according to an industry survey.
Alternative energy with plastics
Natural Resources Canada reports that the use of photovoltaic
(PV) technology as an alternate
form of energy is on the rise,
thanks to a number of social and
economic factors that include
the need to reduce greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions, deregulation and the restructuring of
electric power generating companies.
To be considered a serious alternative to non-renewable energy sources, the PV cells need
to be widely available and relatively inexpensive to manufacture and operate. Canadian researchers have invented a process that makes PV cells perform
by as much as 30 per cent better. These hybrid organic cells
are made from plastic.
The chemical industry has
disputed its impact on humans,
and it is still widely used in
plastic water jugs, medical
devices, hockey helmets, mobile phone housings, computers, car bumpers, carbonless papers and other consumer products.
Plastics in Class for September 2010
Hot projects
Among the interesting projects
underway that highlight the use
of PV technology are the Alstonvale Net Zero House (ANZH) in
Hudson, QC, and the T’Sou-ke
First Nations Solar Power Project in Sooke, BC.
During the winter, the heat is
supplied through an air-to-water
heat pump, which extracts heat
from behind an array of PV panels and stores it in a water reservoir.
Another significant PV technology project is the T’Sou-ke First
Nation Solar Power Project. This
The former is the result of a
native community located on the
nation-wide competition by the
southern end of Vancouver IsPV technology is based on the
Natural Resources Canada
Canada Mortgage and Housing land is one of the largest energyfindings of French physicist Alstates that growth in the PV
Corporation that saw 12 winners producing communities in the
exandre-Edmond Becquerel,
industry has been consistent,
in its Equilibrium sustainable
province. The PV component
who discovered in 1839 that
with capacity, growing by more
housing demonstration initiative. consists of a 62kW grid-tied
some natural materials, particu- than 22 per cent annually beThe ANZH stands apart from the array installed on top of the
larly silicon, produce electricity
others in the competition in that band’s canoe shed, a 7kW gridtween 1993 and 2009.
when exposed to sunlight. Siliit attempts to transcend the goal tied system on the band hall (to
The Canadian total PV power
con cells, however, are quite
of a net zero energy house.
be used for emergency back up)
installed capacity increased by
fragile and expensive unless
and a 6kW system on the band’s
211 per cent to about 102 MW in To minimize energy loss and
they are made of amorphous
fisheries’ office that will require
2009 with nearly 52.5 MW attrib- consumption, the grid-tied, sinsilicon – which is manufactured
some form of backup such as
uted to three large-scale PV
gle-family, detached house reby spraying the material onto a
diesel, propane or another reparks installed in Ontario. In
lies on an airtight and wellplastic frame. The silicon cells
newable technology.
2009, the PV module market in
insulated building envelope comthen need to be protected by a
transparent and resistant cover. Canada was 67.3 MW compared bined with extensive passive
The $1.5 million project costs is
heating and cooling techniques
The first examples of these used to 6.94 MW in 2008.
expected to act as a blueprint to
(large, south-facing windows,
glass, which in itself is very fraghelp other communities reduce
sunscreens and natural sources their carbon footprints.
ile. Plastics have proven to be a
of shade).
much more resistant material.
REAPS
PAGE 6
REPORT
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AROUND THE WORLD
Walmart Sows Major Sustainable Ag Commitment
By Matthew Wheeland Published October 14, 2010
Source: Reprinted with permission from GreenBiz.com: The Resource Center on Business, the
Environment, and the Bottom Line (www.GreenBiz.com). © Green Business Network. All rights reserved.
BENTONVILLE, AR — The overarching
theme of Walmart's ongoing sustainability
initiatives is that when the company sets
goals, it doesn't aim for half-measures. In
a spate of new goals announced this morning at a Global Sustainability Milestone
Meeting in Bentonville, Walmart aims to
overhaul the global food supply chain.
Those goals include reducing food waste
by 15 percent in Walmart's stores in
emerging markets and by 10 percent in
the United States and other developed
economics, investing $1 billion in its
global fresh-food supply chain, and
launching a Sustainable Produce Assessment for its top producers.
The palm oil move alone is expected to cut
Walmart's greenhouse gas footprint by
five million metric tons -- one-quarter of
the company's target carbon footprint reduction.
Walmart today announced a series of fiveyear goals addressing everything from
farm to table, focusing especially on farming and the food supply chain.
That last initiative accelerates how Walmart's Sustainability Index affects its food
supply chain, and aims to bring the same
level of transparency and reporting that
its manufacturing suppliers have to food
producers as well.
In Argentina, Walmart will increase the
amount of produce it sells from small and
medium farmers by more than 60 percent
and ensure 80 percent of its producer suppliers are certified in good agricultural
practices. The company plans to reduce instore food waste by 13 percent and reduce
pesticide residue through training and
certification.
"When we think about our sustainability
goals up to this point, it's not an area we
have addressed adequately," CEO Mike
Duke explained this morning, "but only
four of our 39 sustainability goals address
food. But that's changing, today."
The goals Walmart announced today fall
under three headers: Supporting farmers
and their communities, producing more
food with less waste, and sustainably
source key agriculture.
Under the first category, Walmart commits to:
• sell $1 billion in food
sourced from 1 million
small and medium farmers;
• providing training to 1
million farmers and farm
workers on areas including
crop selection and sustainable farm practices;
• increase the income of the
small and medium farmers
it sources from by 10 to 15
percent;
• In the U.S., doubling its
purchase of locally sourced
produce, to reach 9 percent
by 2015.
Because an estimated 30 to 40 percent of
the food grown around the world never
reaches a table, the second set of Walmart's sustainable agricultural goals addressing cutting the amount of food waste
in the supply chain.
"We will do this through our Sustainability Index by asking our top growers for
the first time to provide detailed information on their agricultural practices," Mike
Duke explained. "This will lead to more
efficient use of water, pesticides and fertilizer, and ultimately, more sustainable
practices."
Walmart has set country-specific goals for
these targets, including:
In China, Walmart will expand the success of its Direct Farm Program by engaging as many as 2 million farm workers
and reduce produce waste by 15 percent
by the end of 2015. In addition, it will require sustainably sourced palm oil in its
Leslie Dach, Walmart's Executive Vice
private brand products, and 15 percent of
President of Corporate Affairs, spelled out the company’s Direct Farm products will
what that will mean for large agricultural be upgraded from Green to Organic certisuppliers: "We’ll be asking growers to
fied by the end of 2015.
share information about their water, fertilizer and chemical use," he said. "And as In India, Walmart will partner with 1
we’ve seen from our other work, this kind million farmers and farm workers to
of transparency encourages efficiency,
source 50 percent of its fresh produce.
innovation and the optimization of reThrough the Direct Farm program, the
sources."
company aims to increase farmer income
The final set of commitments announced
by Walmart today focus on minimizing the
impacts of some of the most high-impact
products on the market: Palm oil and beef.
These two products are among the leading
causes of deforestation around the world,
and Walmart hopes to essentially eliminate the negative impacts of its purchases
of those products.
By 2015, Walmart will require
sustainably sourced palm oil for all Walmart-branded products around the globe,
and will only source beef that does not
contribute to the deforestation of the
Amazon in Brazil, where it's estimated
that 60 percent of all deforestation is attributed to cattle ranching.
by 20 percent and reduce food waste by 5
percent. The company will work with
farmers to reduce the application of
chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
We'll have much more on Walmart's new
agricultural sustainability goals as the
story develops.
HO T LI NE 2 5 0 - 5 6 1 - 7 3 2 7
REAPS
REPORT
PAGE 7
Celebrate Holidays in Less Commercialized Ways
Celebrate the holidays with family
and friends by spending time together, creating homemade gifts and
recycling old items to create new
memories.
recycle paper at the same time.





Save energy by using LED lights.
If we all switched we would save
a lot of electricity. There are
many different lighting options
out now and some are solar powered.
Cut up your old cards and use
them for decoupage projects, gift
tags or kids crafts.
Give an herb garden kit to a favorite gardener
Use rechargeable batteries.
There’s a USBCELL out that recharges by plugging into your
computer. Standard rechargeable
batteries are also a good choice.
At least you can use them several
times before throwing them out.
Put together an organic fruit basket for a friend.
Use newspaper, old gift bags,
comics and magazines for wrapping paper. They also work for
padding more delicate items and
Cross stitch something onto a
towel, apron or framed Aida fabric.

Make a candle holder out of a tin
can by punching a design into it
with hammer and nail. Recycled
soup and coffee cans work well for
this and you can use a stencil
similarly to carving a pumpkin.

Create a homemade photo album
full of favorite family photos.

Create a cookbook with your family’s favorite recipes to treasure.

Decorate, personalize and paint
an old small box and use it for a
jewellery box or knick-knacks.
This is another fun craft children
love to help creating.

Decoupage someone’s favorite
photo onto a container or box so
that they will be able to see it
every day.

Organize a carol singing party
and sing along with friends and
family.
Consider celebrating the holidays
in less commercialized ways:

Buy handmade items with less
packaging such as a sweaters,
stuffed toys, wooden toys, puzzles, furniture etc.

Consider gifts of time such as
volunteering, gift certificates for
favors such as helping a friend
with childcare. (Make your own
gift certificates that give someone
a free hour of babysitting, a free
lawn mowing, house cleaning
etc.)
Here's some simple ways we can be
kinder to the environment over the
holidays.


Create your own handmade gift. You
can create all kinds of wonderful
items if you use your imagination.
Some homemade gift ideas:

Bake something for someone.
Think of someone who might enjoy a batch of homemade cookies
or a pie.

Frame a piece of art created by a
child. Some relatives would love
receiving something like this.

Sew an apron for your favorite
cook with a personalized saying
on it.

Create a paper mache Christmas
tree out of newspaper.
The holidays can be a stressful time
of year. It’s a good time for expressing our love for each other
with our actions and our time. If
we remember this, we can come
up with more unique and ecofriendly ways to do that.
Did You Know?

Next year, the Bank of Canada will begin to introduce a new series of bank notes printed on a plastic material instead of
the traditional paper-cotton material currently in use. The new notes are expected to provide further protection against
counterfeiting.

The demand for recycled plastic lumber continues to grow. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the
recycling rates for polyethylene bags and film doubled from 2005 to 2008 – growing by 28 per cent since 2005. Plastic
bags and film are used primarily in the manufacturing of recycled plastic lumber.

This year’s California State University graduates were decked out in gowns made from recycled plastic during their commencement ceremony. The eco-friendly option came from Virginia-based Oak Hall Cap & Gown. Each gown used an average of 23 plastic bottles.

The recently held World Cup debuted a number of Nike jerseys made entirely from recycled plastic. Each jersey used approximately eight recycled plastic bottles. Teams sporting the new jerseys included Portugal, the Netherlands and Brazil.
The use of the recycled materials reduces energy consumption by up to 30 per cent.
REAPS
PAGE 8
HO T LI NE 2 5 0 - 5 6 1 - 7 3 2 7
REPORT
RECYCLING & ENVIRONM ENTAL
ACTION & PLANNING SO CIETY
Mailing address:
PO Box 444, Prince George, BC V2L 4S6
Recycling and Environmental Action
Planning Society (AKA REAPS)
Compost Garden and Office Location:
1950 Gorse Street
The REAPS Report is published six times a year, on
the first of January, March, May, July, September, and
November.
Phone: 250-561-7327
Fax: 250-561-7324
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.reaps.org
Articles, originals or reprinted with permission, are
submitted by members and represent the opinions of
the authors only, not necessarily those of the Society,
Board, or members as a whole.
Dumpy’s Tip of the Month
The 3Rs and Christmas - Instead of buying
Deadline for submission is two weeks prior to publication date. Articles, suggestions for articles, or comments in general are much appreciated, and can be
submitted to the REAPS office via email at [email protected]
something brand-new, try making gifts and
wrapping by using recycled or salvaged
materials. Gift bags can be made by using
scrap pieces of colorful cotton cloth or wrap
gifts in decorative towels. Get creative!
Going green means you're saving useful
materials from the landfill and avoiding the
environmental impact of buying something
brand new.
RECYCLE CRAFT CORNER
light bulb penguin
DIRECTIONS:
1/
Putting a few paper mache layers on the
light bulb. Not only will this give your
project some texture, it will also protect the
fragile glass of the light bulb.
2/
Paint the entire light bulb white. Let the
paint dry.
3/
Use black paint to make your light bulb look like a penguin's body.
4/
Glue two small wiggle eyes onto your penguin as shown in the photo.
5/ Cut a beak out of orange craft foam and glue it in place.
6/ Cut two webbed feet out of orange craft foam and glue them in place.
7/ Cut a piece of scrap fabric, about 2" x 3". Using the photo as a guideline, wrap it
around the top of the Penguin's head to be the hat. Glue it in place.
8/ Cut another piece of scrap fabric, it should be about 6 inches long and only about
a quarter to a half an inch wide. Wrap this around the extra fabric sticking out
over the top of the light bulb and tie.
9/ Make small snips in the fabric gathered above the tie so it looks fringed and
resembles a pom-pom on top of the hat. Your penguin is now done. You can
display your Penguin on a shlf or even a ribbon for hanging. Enjoy!
Email: