From: Earth Day Canada Waste Activity Guide.
Individually, each Canadian is responsible for producing about one tonne of waste each year. The garbage produced by 15 individuals in one year is equivalent to the weight of a full standard garbage truck that we see in our
neighbourhoods each week. Imagine that in your backyard.
Joyce, from Newmarket, Ontario, is one individual who from an early
age has been committed to creating as little waste as possible by acting
as a responsible consumer. Growing up in rural Ontario on a one-and-a-half
acre market garden, Joyce wasn't exposed to the practice of hauling
garbage to the curb. Instead, materials were in one way or another reused
or recycled on the farm. Now retired and living in a condominium, Joyce
has adjusted to a smaller living space and the constraints of our consumer-based
society. She is committed to shopping wisely by purchasing only necessities
and makes every effort to choose environmentally sound and ethical products
and services. When shopping, Joyce purchases locally grown foods and
refuses to buy excessively packaged goods. She also uses cloth bags
rather than accepting disposable ones.
In addition to being a responsible consumer, Joyce takes significant steps to reduce and reuse waste that she creates by composting her kitchen scraps using a vermi-composting system. The resulting castings that are produced from the red wriggler worms act as a fantastic fertilizer for her windowsill herbs, cluster tomato plants, and houseplants. Joyce states, "Slowing down in my older years takes me back in memory to that market garden. Big fat Canadian earthworms have given way to little red wriggler worms who have become an important link in the natural cycle of land use."
Joyce also makes good use of her building's recycling facilities located in an underground storage area. Joyce is building on the knowledge of her generation and takes great steps to pass it on to those around her. Her individual action is working to inspire her family and friends and other residents in her condominium.
ed. note: Joyce was one of our first clients and remains one of
our favourites.
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