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At Kelson Group, we want to help you live better, which is why we take pride in being a member of the Certified Rental Building™ Program (CRB), North America’s first and only quality assurance certification initiative for apartment buildings.

As part of our commitment to the CRB, we actively encourage our residents to embrace environmentally conscious practices and integrate small yet impactful changes into their daily routines. These changes span from energy conservation to waste diversion and water preservation.

To celebrate Global Recycling Day on March 18th, we are sharing some tips to enhance waste diversion and recycling efforts at home:

1. Avoid single-use items: Make thoughtful choices in selecting everyday products to minimize waste that may end up in landfills. Whenever possible, avoid buying and utilizing single-use food utensils, coffee cups, straws, and paper towels and instead, use reusable alternatives such as metal straws and silverware.

2. Invest in a reusable bottle: By investing in a quality reusable bottle, you can eliminate the need for single-use containers like plastic bottles and cans, ultimately reducing waste and saving money for on-the-go beverages.

3. Reuse or repair before recycling: Before discarding items, explore creative ways to repair or repurpose them. For example, you can transform old clothes into cloth rags or repurpose glass jars for storage. This approach reduces the demand for new products and conserves natural resources.

4. Use reusable grocery bags: Replace disposable plastic bags with durable cloth produce bags to minimize plastic waste. These bags can be reused for various purposes other than going grocery shopping, reducing the need for single-use plastics altogether.

5. Understand what can be recycled: Familiarize yourself with recyclable materials and proper sorting practices. Different materials may have specific recycling requirements, and adherence to guidelines ensures effective waste management.

6. Compost: Convert food scraps, coffee grounds, and leaves into compost to enrich soil and reduce waste. Composting can also conserve water and support plant growth, promoting sustainability and helping you save money and time.

7. Buy second-hand and donate: Consider purchasing used items before buying new ones to minimize waste accumulation in landfills. Donate those clothes that are still in good condition to help local charities.

8. Support your local farmers’ market: Shopping at farmers’ markets supports the local economy, ensures you will have fresher ingredients, and reduces packaging waste.

9. Buy in bulk: You can further minimize packaging waste by purchasing food items in bulk and using reusable containers like jars or cloth bags. This approach reduces unnecessary packaging and promotes resource efficiency to avoid wasting food.

10. Limit your use of paper: Embrace digital alternatives for bills, receipts, and subscriptions to magazines to reduce paper consumption and contribute to a more sustainable lifestyle.

Additionally, checking with your Building Manager on what your specific apartment building offers is always a great idea. Most properties from Kelson Group in Alberta have a recycling program, while some have cardboard recycling only. All buildings in the group’s Kamloops properties participate in the city’s recycling program. Each building has containers for recycling materials that are separate from garbage bins.

By engaging in reduction, recycling, reusing, and composting, we can contribute to energy conservation, reduce disposal costs, and minimize landfill waste, helping create a positive environmental impact.

Article via www.nature.org