Durham Region celebrates Waste Reduction Week October 19 to 25

Whitby, Ontario – The Regional Municipality of Durham is celebrating Waste Reduction Week (WRW) from October 19 to 25 with different themes each day that emphasizes the daily actions residents can take to reduce waste and help our environment. WRW also celebrates Durham Region’s year-round programs highlighting environmental efforts and achievements while also encouraging innovative new ideas and solutions.

The themes for each day of the week are as follows: Monday focuses on circular economies; Tuesday’s theme is textile recycling; Wednesday is all about electronic waste or e-waste; Thursday is about reducing single-use plastics; food waste is Friday’s focus; Saturday is about a sharing economy; and finally, Sunday is dedicated to swap and repair.

Each of these themes identifies important changes that can be made by residents in Durham to reduce waste as well as important education for the implementation of new ways to divert waste, such as through shifting to a sharing or circular economy approach.  

To help residents in their waste reduction efforts, the Region collects many of these materials, such as textiles and e-waste, at Waste Management facilities and with special call-in pick-ups. Special waste events, such as Reuse Days, also provide residents with options to donate or dispose of their waste items properly.

Residents are encouraged to learn more about WRW by following the Region’s Twitter and Facebook and using the hashtags #DurhamWaste and #WasteReductionWeek. To learn more waste reduction tips, visit durham.ca/waste.

Quick Facts

• More than eight million plastic bottles are collected each year in the Region’s Blue Box recycling program. This equals 22,000 single-use plastic bottles per day.
• The average person throws away 37 kilograms of textiles each year, and 95 per cent of those clothes could be reused or recycled.
• While electronic materials can contain harmful substances such as mercury, lead and cadmium, which require special handling, there are also valuable and scarce resources in electronics, such as gold, copper, aluminum and other precious metals.
• Approximately 63 per cent of the food Canadians throw away could have been eaten. For the average Canadian household, that amounts to 140 kilograms of wasted food per year – at a cost of more than $1,100 annually.
• For tips on planning meals, storing food and getting creative with leftovers, visit durham.ca/BuyItEatIt.
• Millions of Canadians engage in the sharing economy every day through ride sharing apps, libraries, rental services, online music/video streaming and more.

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For more information, please contact Corporate Communications.