Clear bag recycling to take Inuvik by storm
Maria Canton
Northern News Services
Inuvik (May 04/01) - This month every household and business in town will find a surprise in the mail box.
Ten clear bags, made of recycled plastic, and a brochure will be mailed out as part of a new recycling initiative about to take Inuvik by storm.
Forget neatly packing your recyclables in the traditional "blue boxes," the Inuvik Recycling Society has developed a more efficient idea -- clear bags.
With a $3,500 donation from Inuvik town council, the IRS is putting into place a recycling program for aluminum and steel food cans, beer and pop cans, milk jugs, plastic juice, pop and water containers and tetra packs.
It's a no fuss, no muss approach to getting regular recycling off the ground said Barbara Armstrong, co-ordinator of the IRS.
"People here want recycling and it was up to us to figure out a way to make it easy for everyone," she added.
"The clear bags will get recycling into homes and businesses, it will be unique to Inuvik and it's honest, because the bag is see-thru."
The society is aiming to have a sample set of ten clear bags and an information leaflet distributed by Beautification Week in late May. The town's monetary contribution will pay for the first community-wide hand-out of bags, the postage and the printing of the brochure.
After that, the responsibility lies with the individual.
"Now it will be up to the people to be responsible for their recycling," said Armstrong.
"We're providing the service, they just have to fill the bag and put it out on regular garbage pick-up days."
The recyclables will be sorted at the landfill before being sent to a recycling facility. Because Inuvik already has a successful community greenhouse, a solid commitment to beautifying the community and tipping fees at the landfill, Armstrong says part of the battle of creating a workable recycling program is already over.
"Recycling will work here because there are already commitments from the town and the people that go hand and hand with recycling," she said.
"And paper recycling is next to come."
