20 - Friday, January 17, 1992 - North Shore News ENVIRONMENT Blue box program increases awareness of critical issues From page 19 namely, what do we do with all the collected material? AN over North America, glass is being stockpiled because there is a glut on the market. Mixed paper is also hard to sell, and mixed plastics are little good to anyone. There are, however, already some plans afoot for alternative uses for glass, and markets are stable for the other recyclables collected in North Shore blue boxes -- none of which, by the way, ever see a landfill unless a particular bin has been too con- taminated by people throwing the wrong things in it at the drop-off depot. This segment of the show also illustrated why it’s so important to be wary about accepting too many items in a blue box program that may turn out to be white elephants down the road. Many, many people have re- quested that the North Shore Recycling Program take mixed plastics, and with the opening of a Superwood plant in Delta last summer one would have thought it was feasible. But Superwoaod, which took mixed plastics and turned them into a lumber substitute, is now in severe financial difficulty because it wasn’t able to sell its product. Merlin Plastics is expanding its operations to be able to accept more than milk jugs and pop bot- tles, but they will only take quan- tities of clean, sorted plastics — 66 About 96 % of GVRD residents who have blue box programs participate in them... 99 leaving municipalities to figure the best means of collecting the various types without huge sorting costs. Still, there are many residents who think a blue box should be able to accept just about any ma- terial and get it recycled. One weman who phoned the recycling program after seeing the Market- place show was worried we were landfilling our recyclables, then in the next breath said one of the major faults of our program is that it doesn’t accept more items! This illustrates another benefit of the blue box: if it doesn’t solve all the problems, at least it gets just about everyone thinking about them, Blue box programs have served to drastically increase people’s awareness of the solid waste crisis. A public attitude survey com- missioned by the Greater Van- couver Regional District indicates that about 96% of GVRD resi- dents who have blue box pro- grams participate in them, and that people who do recycle tend to become more and more involved with ‘reducing’ and ‘‘reusing’’ as Our Green Planet Recipes for a cleaner, healthier environment well. But the blue box is not the be al and end all some believe it to e. . Forty-six per cent of the resi- dents surveyed stated that of the 3 Rs, “‘recycling’’ is best for the en- vironment, while only 18% knew that ‘‘reducing’’ was the best op- tion. Remember: blue boxes are to be put on curbs, not on pedestals! Attention parents! It's semester turn-around, and somé of you may be looking around for a school with a more traditional approach to your child's education. Right now Woburn International Academy is offering full scholar- ships to deserving applicants from grades 6 to 12. Recently relocated in Vancouver's historic Gastown, Woburn is a ful- ly accredited high school that offers an enriched programme designed to meet and exceed the curriculum guides of the Ministry of Education. Applications are now being accepted for Spring semester beginning Pebruary 3rd. 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