Willa Crowley

Home School (Fort St. James, BC)

In Fort St. James, B.C. we have two recycling stations. This photo was taken behind the Nak’azdli Recycling Depot. In the background are plastic bags of recycling that have been dropped off by residents. In the foreground are plastic bags stuffed with more plastic bags. After interviewing the managers, I estimated that they collect approximately 400 recycling bags per week from customers. Many people don’t realize that these bags cannot be recycled in the province of B.C., as they are considered products – not packaging. At 400 bags per week, each weighing 30g, that’s 20,800 bags or 642kg of plastic recycling bags going into our local landfill each year. When recycling, instead of using recycling bags, we can use bins, totes, cardboard boxes or reusable bags. This simple solution will help people who are already dedicated to recycling reduce their plastic waste even more.