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August 2015.Pub “Environment is but our looking glass.” James Allen August 2015 Lethbridge Waste Diversion Policy SAGE Meetings—no The City of Lethbridge approved Council members were also tion followed by the introduc- meeting in August. a Waste Diversion Policy on briefed on potential five-, sev- tion of surcharges on tipping June 20th which sets a five-year en- and 10 year implementa- fees for targeted materials at Riparian Restoration Work- target of a 30-per-cent overall tion schedules for a diversion the landfill and, in the final shops. August 21st, 28th per-capita waste disposal reduc- strategy for waste from the phase, regulations which could and 29th in Turner Valley. tion by 2021 and a 15-year tar- local ICI/C&D sectors, which include mandatory recycling Registration $50 at Sustain- get of 50 per cent by 2030. together comprise about 75 per and/or disposal bans.” ability Resources. cent of the waste that enters the From the City of Lethbridge: landfill each year. Each pro- The Industrial, Commercial Lethbridge Sustainable Liv- “Existing residential recycling posed implementation schedule and Institutional Recycling ing Association is planning programs divert about 20 per would include a three-phase Implementation Strategy de- AppleFest for August 29th. cent of residential waste from approach, starting with educa- scribes the plan which includes See their website for details the landfill. The draft policy focused stakeholder engage- and apple-picking opportu- proposes to increase residential ment and the development of nities: waste diversion to 50 per cent by best practices to help Leth- www.lethbridgesustainableli 2021 and 65 per cent by 2030. It bridge become a leader in ving.org/ also would target a 25-per- waste diversion from this sec- cent reduction by 2021 in waste tor. Lethbridge River Valley in from the Industrial, Commercial, the running for Great Places Institutional (ICI) as well as Environment Lethbridge had in Canada. Vote at great- the Construction & Demolition identified waste diversion as a placesincanada.ca/view- (C&D) sectors, increasing to 45 primary focus in collaboration 2015-nominations/ per cent by 2030. with the community partners. Carbon Pricing Dialogue Banff Introduces Feed‐In‐Tariff for Photovoltaic Robert Gagne, founder at Carbon Con- The town of Banff (population 9600) has Banff expects to install 165 kW of PV versions in Calgary, is organizing a sum- decided to use an environmental reserve capacity on residences and businesses, mit on carbon pricing this fall, tentatively fund to incentivize the installation of making the town the highest per capital in both Calgary and Red Deer. photovoltaic (PV) power generation. producer of solar power in the province. The summit will “start with a presenta- Banff council have assigned $300,000 by From Green Energy Futures, Grant Can- tion covering the broad strokes of what's lottery to reduce PV paybacks from ap- ning, councillor and deputy mayor of happening in Canada and internationally, proximately 20 years to 7 years, making Banff town council said: “Really, it’s just and Alberta's options to broadly price the technology both environmentally and doing the right thing. As we move for- carbon ... to the point of speaking the financially attractive. ward, transitioning off of non-renewable same language.” Presentations will be energies is the right thing to do for our followed by wider discussions amongst The environmental reserve fund is sup- community, it’s the right thing to do for the participants. SAGE has been invited. ported by the rents collected from utilities our residents and our business community. to use space (under roads and sidewalks) If the town of Banff has the means to en- The goal is to prepare for a province- for their infrastructure. Banff has used courage our community to get involved wide consultation on a new climate this fund previously to fund LED light- then council absolutely supports that.” change policy for the province, as an- ing, waterless urinals, and energy effi- nounced by Environment Minister Shan- ciency rebates. non Phillips. “Environment is but our looking glass.” Page 2 Milk River Management Committee – On Watch for 25 Years Based on the recommendations of a non- Thank you SAGE representatives: governmental task force, in 1987 the Mel McCaugherty (1990-1996); Bob Campbell (1997-2005); and Cheryl Bradley Alberta Government through order-in- (2006 - present). council designated the small (10 km2) Kennedy Coulee Ecological Reserve 2 In June 1990, a dozen individuals with tional boundary, the Pinhorn Grazing bordered by the much larger (54 km ) th diverse and often divergent interests Reserve and the deepest part of the Milk Milk River Natural Area – the 100 natu- committed to resolve their differences River canyon. Few visit the area because ral area in the province. The two desig- and work together to guide management of its remoteness. It is as the prairie nations were a compromise. Ecological of the Milk River Natural Area and Ken- would have appeared prior to European reserve status placed priority on main- nedy Coulee Ecological Reserve. Their settlement and a reference point for un- taining a benchmark area of mixed grass- common goal as the Milk River Manage- derstanding how our activities have af- land in climax condition. Natural Area ment Committee (MRMC) was to protect fected the prairie landscape. status allowed for human activities, in- and maintain the ecological and aesthetic cluding livestock grazing and recreation, character of this 64 km2 block of mixed- Widespread interest in the area’s future provided they were compatible with the grass prairie with minimal human inter- arose in the 1970s when conservation main conservation objective. ference. Twenty-five years later the interests concerned over loss of native MRMC continues its work with four of grasslands suggested protective designa- (Continued on Page 5) the original members still involved – tion at the same time that this parcel of Terry Hood, William King, Ken Kultgen public land, ungrazed by livestock since Jr. and Cliff Wallis – and six other rela- the early 1960s, was being withdrawn tive newcomers – Lee Finstead, Joan from the Lost River Ranch as a result of Environment Lethbridge Hughson, Cam Lockerbie, Cheryl Brad- limits placed on the size of government Fundraiser ley, Darwyn Berndt, and Peter Swain. grazing dispositions. A public hearing of Rain Barrels—$70 each Many others too numerous to mention the Advisory Committee on Wilderness have contributed to the work of the Areas and Ecological Reserves in 1984 (Only 3 remaining) MRMC. heard not only from individuals wanting Order Online: to maintain a benchmark of dry mixed http:// The area over which these dedicated in- grassland without livestock grazing, but www.environmentlethbridge.org/ dividuals keep watch is a native prairie also from those wanting to expand live- landscape of great beauty and diversity stock grazing, guarantee motorized ac- tucked into a remote nook of the Milk cess for hunting and discourage large River watershed bounded by the interna- numbers of visitors. Interesting Links: Natural Capital at Risk: a study of the top 100 business impacts. http://www.naturalcapitalcoalition.org/ The State of Food Insecurity in the World, 2014. http://www.fao.org/ Growing Water Scarcity in Agriculture: Future Challenge to Glboal Water Security http://www.water.ox.ac.uk/ Global Water Scarcity: Risk and Challenges for Business http://awsassets.panda.org/ Southern Alberta Group for the Environment (SAGE) A Leading Voice for a Healthy and Environmentally Sustainable Community. Visit us at: http://sage-environment.org/ If you are interesting in getting involved, contact us at: [email protected] “Environment is but our looking glass.” Page 3 Draft Report on Waste Management in Lethbridge Part 3 - What are the Benefits of Recycling? Not all materials can be recycled. Paper foam trays, beverage lids, dis- Some materials can be recycled posable plates. into a closed loop (to make equiv- 60% energy savings alent products), and others are 95% less air pollution Energy savings are: downcycled (to make inferior Recycling one tonne of paper products). Some materials save a saves 20 trees and over 7000 gal- PETE 70% lot of energy by recycling lons of water. (compared to virgin materials), HDPE 50% while some materials save only a Glass PVC 55% little energy reprocessing into PP 45% new products. So, what are the 50% energy savings benefits of recycling? 20% less air pollution and 50% PS 45% less water pollution In general, recycling reduces the Glass can be recycled indefinite- amount of waste sent to the land- ly. Energy savings do not include fill; it prevents pollution created transportation energy, which can in extracting raw materials, and Plastics be significant for lightweight ma- emissions from the landfill when terials like plastic. For this reason, disposed; it conserves natural re- About 4% of the world oil produc- polystyrene is often not accepted sources; it saves energy; and tion is used to make plastics. at recycling stations. helps sustain the environment for other species and for future gener- Thermoplastics can be recycled PVC is not often recycled due to ations. (typical of food containers), but dangerous gases produced when thermoset plastics (epoxy, silicone, reheating or burning. Aluminum melamine, polyester) cannot be recycled. Much of the recycled plastics are Aluminum has dramatic environ- downcycled to fibers (for textiles, mental and economic benefits Thermplastics (according to their for example), or lower grade plas- when recycled. recycling number) include: tics (#7 Other). PETE, for exam- 95% energy savings 1. Polyethylene terephthalate ple, can be recycled back into bot- 95% pollution reduction (PETE) used for soda bottles; tles or downcycled to fibres, 4 kg of bauxite not excavated 2. High-density polyethylene whereas HDPE is often for every 1 kg of aluminum (HDPE) used for milk bottles; downcycled to secondary uses.
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