2017 Waste Minimization Awards

The 22nd annual Saskatchewan Waste Minimization Awards ceremony was held on April 19 in Regina as part of SWRC's ReForum conference. Thanks to SaskTel for sponsoring the awards.

On hand to assist with the awards presentations was Hon. Dustin Duncan, Saskatchewan Minister of the Environment and Greg Hern, Manager of Environment, SaskTel.

Individual Award - Nick Daigneault
Nick

Nick has been the Mayor of the Northern Village of Beauval since October 2016. The village has been concerned about the limited amount of space remaining in its landfill. During his time in office, Nick’s leadership in bringing recycling to both households and businesses in the village has helped extend the life of the landfill. Nick arranged for a company to pick up recyclable materials from residents. He partnered with Cameco to sponsor small recycling bins for people to collect recycling in their houses and delivered the bins himself. Nick has been instrumental in fostering new attitudes toward waste in the community, and personally promotes the program via social media and in person. In just one month, over 20,000 pounds of recyclable material was collected and diverted thanks to the new program.

Partnership Award -
Bridge City Bicycle Coop and the City of Saskatoon BCBC

In the summer of 2016 the City began searching for a partner who could make use of the hundreds of bicycles disposed of at its landfill each year. They found a good fit with the Bridge City Bicycle Co-op (BCBC). It is a volunteer-run, openly accessible, non-profit cooperative that offers a drop-in workspace, tool and supplies, and participatory bicycle maintenance education. Youths and adults learn how to fix their own bicycles or build/restore a bicycle using donated frames and parts.

In 2017, the City of Saskatoon Landfill received 565 bicycles for disposal. Of these, 285 (50.4%) were successfully recovered, in whole or in part, for refurbishment and reuse by the BCBC. The partnership has been extended to 2018, with goal of 60% diversion.

Business Award - London Drugs London Drugs

London Drugs helps the people of Saskatchewan reduce waste with their What’s the Green Deal? sustainability program. This program offers free drop-off for hard-to-recycle items. In 2017, the four Saskatchewan London Drugs stores diverted 455,753 lbs. of waste including: electronics, batteries, small appliances, food donations and organic waste. Each store works hard to manage its own waste too, sorting through any garbage to maximize recycling. As a result, they have achieved a 91% diversion rate.

Specific programs include:

  • Bring Back the Pack: Customers can return packaging from anything they purchase at London Drugs stores, including Styrofoam.
  • Bag fee: London Drugs planned the 2018 launch of a 5¢ bag reduction fee to help reduce single-use plastic. Part of the proceeds from this initiative will help fund in-store recycling programs, keeping them free for all customers.
  • Closing the Loop from Recycling to New Products: With Cascades Recovery, cardboard and paper recycled at London Drugs actually comes back to stores as recycled products, saving energy, water and resources.

Small Business Award – The Backyard Enterprises Ltd. The Backyard

The Backyard started in 2014 as a pop-up, farm-to-table restaurant in Regina by Chef Mariana Brito and her husband Kieran Lemoal. In 2017, The Backyard expanded and opened a Mexican food truck called Malinche.

Unlike many food truck or restaurants, the Backyard/Malinche team has adopted a waste minimization philosophy and speaks regularly about how to improve waste reduction practices. Chef Brito uses ingredient sourcing and prep methods at the forefront of restaurant waste minimization. Her team limited themselves to one liter of garbage a day. Over time, staff has become aware of everything that comes into the truck and how it affects their waste.

Notable accomplishments in 2017 include:

  • using reusable dishes, which saved over 10,000 disposable plates in the first summer
  • paperless receipts
  • reusable steel straws
  • diverting 800lbs of compost through a bokashi composting bucket system


Sasktel

 

Thanks to SaskTel for their support of the Saskatchewan Waste Minimization Awards.