Recycle Fair cleans up again

Town staff Eric Van Ee, and Nic Jordan 

*Updated with new information June 26, 2018

Toni Lucas - Pincher Creek's 2018 annual Waste Roundup/Reuse Fair Saturday, June 16 at the Ranchland Mall parking lot. There was a somewhat lower attendance than usual possibly due to the rain that was steadily falling throughout the day or that with this event being held annually people have had a chance to keep up on their waste item build up.


DBS Environmental collected hazardous waste like electronics, batteries, chemicals and paints, and a paper shredder truck from Lethbridge Mobile Shredding was on hand for safe disposal of sensitive documents. A big draw for the day was the recycle swap.

DBS team sorting chemicals 

At the swap people could bring just about any item they no longer wanted to use, and others could look along the swapping area and see what sort of things may be of use to them. There were items ranging from DVD's, seasonal decorations, bicycles, household items and appliances, tools, furniture, lamps, building materials, and anything else that someone might say, 'I don't need this, but someone else might'. If it was not taken away by the end of the day it went to the appropriate disposal stream, whether that was electronics, recycling, or to the landfill, in cooperation with Alberta Recycling.  Town employee Nic Jordan said, "Well, you know what they say, one persons trash is another's treasure."  Several town staff members were on hand to help load and unload vehicles.

Telling kids you're taking them to see Shredder is unfair

Town employee Eric Van Ee said the event was busy first thing in the morning, and that stuff dropped off seemed to disappear as fast as it arrived.  Both of the operations staff said that the event helped lower the amount of waste which ended up in the landfill, for at least one more iteration of use. As the day came to a close there was little left in the recycle area. The two young men had a loader ready to clear the leftover pieces and return the parking lot to public use.

In the same spirit a children's toy/clothing and book swap during the same weekend down inside the mall at Pincher Creek Family Centre.  Families who had outgrown items could feel confident that the items would go to other families who would be able to use them once again.  Other partners  in the event included the Lions Club collecting eyeglasses, Pincher Creek Wellness Centre, the Recycling Depot, and Alberta Recycling had people on hand to take surveys.

*Reuse/recycle fair June 16, 2018 totals from DBS environmental:
Aerosols – 219 cans
Paint related material – 1,615 kg’s
Fluorescent bulbs – 56
Propane tanks – 15
Used oil – 1
Visual Display Device (less than 30” screen) – 48
Visual Display Device (more than 30” screen) – 16
Computers and servers – 24
Laptop, notebook & tablet computers – 12
Printers, copiers, scanners, fax machines – 65

Total tonnage Transferred: 2,742