Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Recycled Treasures in Georgetown Ontario

Recently, I reported back about a shopping trip to Georgetown's Wastewise Recycling Centre, commenting that the lighting in the book section was decidedly deficient. The shopping was so good though that I wasn't deterred; nevertheless, on a return trip today I was almost blinded by the newly illuminated aisles that operations manager, Debbie Smart, told me about. 
Halton's Wastewise is the brainchild of a band of local citizens who didn't want to be neighbours to the planned large-scale garbage sites that were ear-marked for their community.  In its 10,00 square foot facility, almost every conceivable household item is tagged, classified and re-sold or recycled to the benefit of all.  The Wastewise community prides itself in staunchly supporting the four pillars of sustainability: the social and cultural nurturing of the community, protecting the environment, managing waste with a front-end approach and serving as an economic model for other operations. 
Today, after picking up another small stack of books, I caught up with Debbie for the first time.  She's off to Tofino, BC - for a well-earned vacation I'm sure!  Debbie, you and your people at Wastewise are doing a wonderful job; keep it up (when you come back from BC that is!)

Wastewise_collage_2