April 25, 2019

“All the paperwork was doctored,” said Jamie Kaminski, a director of Zero Waste Canada. “It was supposed to have come out of somewhere around Toronto, then I traced it back to somewhere out of B.C.”

Zero Waste has been advocating to the provincial and federal government of Canada for the removal of the containers since then-Manila city councillor Numero Lim wrote to the non-profit’s director Buddy Boyd in 2015 complaining that the shipment contained a huge volume of mixed waste, including adult diapers.

April 24, 2019

General advice entails restricting ourselves from buying and cooking in excess along with storing food correctly. Simple actions which can reduce food waste in the kitchen, as advised by Helen Sanders in an article for Zero Waste Canada, include using scraps such as vegetable peels, chicken bones, and onion skin to make nutritious soup stock. Other ideas are baking potato skins for a tasty snack and boiling meat bones to make popsicles for pets.

April 22, 2019

South Bruce Peninsula wants to stomp out all smoking at its municipal beaches and parks, including on Sauble Beach.

Council has endorsed a staff recommendation to ban people from smoking cigarettes or marijuana or vaping within those municipally owned areas.

March 20, 2019

According to Zero Waste Canada, 14 billion cups of coffee are consumed in Canada every year, 35 per cent of which are ordered to go — mostly in the form of single-use cups — even when people end having their coffee in the shop.

Starbucks has announced that Vancouver will pilot its new Greener Cup initiative. Customers here will join those in Seattle, San Francisco, New York, and London to trial new cups that are designed to be more recyclable and compostable than existing options.

Mar 7, 2019

Au Canada, il se boit 15 milliards de tasses de café par année, selon l’organisme Zero Waste Canada. Près du tiers des commandes seraient à emporter.

Dans des chaînes comme Tim Hortons, McDonald’s ou Starbucks, un rabais de 10 cents est aussi accordé aux clients ayant leur propre tasse et la presque totalité des cafés commandés est à emporter.

” Ce n’est pas asses pour motiver les gens, souligne Barb Hetherington, de Zero Waste Canada. Ça ne fait pas assez mal à leur portefeuille.”

February 2019

Second only to tap water, coffee is one of Canada’s most loved beverages. It’s also one of the most wasteful, as every day, millions of Canadians dump disposable coffee cups and packaging in the trash or recycle bin, even though many of these items cannot be recycled.

Barb Hetherington, a lifelong advocate and board member of Zero Waste Canada, explains why coffee waste is bad for the environment.

“The to-go coffee industry, which is the major seller of coffee these days, creates a lot of waste because there’s all these single-use products. You’ve got the lid, the cup, the stir stick, the cream packages, and the sugar packages,” Hetherington said. “You’re using virgin resources, and within 10 minutes, it’s discarded, and it may go to a landfill, or it may create pollution.”

February 19, 2019

Zero waste is very popular not only among those who are environmentally minded but also for people who want to stick with this type of life, but do not know how.

“The easiest way to start is to become more aware of the waste that you generate,” said the representative of Zero Waste Canada.

February 15, 2019

“Zero waste” has become a buzz phrase for the environmentally minded, but even those who are on board with the concept have trouble putting it into practice at home.

The easiest way to start is to become “more aware of the waste that you generate,” said Barb Hetherington, a board member at Zero Waste Canada, a non-profit consultancy.

February 1, 2019

“We’ve got a massive plastic packaging problem,” Barb Hetherington, a board member for Zero Waste Canada, told Global Citizen. “We’ve got so much packaging in the world that our recycling systems can’t handle it.”

The average person in North America or Western Europe consumes about 100 kilograms of plastic, and the bulk of that is due to packaging, according to Zero Waste Canada.

January 23, 2019

It all starts with a first step. Using a reusable bag, switching to containers rather than snack bags, declining a plastic straw at a restaurant.

Waste reduction and zero-waste lifestyles have gained ground as recently as 2016. There are bloggers, coaches, Pinterest boards and more to help guide people in the right direction.

According to Zero Waste Canada, zero waste is defined as designing and managing products and processes to avoid and eliminate the amount of waste and materials generated.

September 23, 2018

Connie Reichelsdorfer, the executive director of Zero Waste Canada and a Burnaby resident, pointed out the small bits of plastic from cigarette packaging and candy wrappers that were littering the ground under the overpass and by the shoreline.

Zero Waste Canada encourages people, through participating in events and through education, to not only recycle but to actually reduce consumption. A shoreline cleanup around Burnaby Lake was also conducted on Saturday by volunteers.

September 19, 2018

A sustainable, minimalist lifestyle surrounded by the great outdoors is a dream for many people. One couple who recently purchased property in Malakwa plans to live that dream and says many more people can do the same.

Buddy Boyd and his partner Barbara Hetherington, who recently retired and sold their zero-waste recycling depot in Gibsons, stumbled upon the Cedars RV resort in Malakwa while on a cross-Canada trip and decided to purchase a site there and use it for a zero-waste tiny home.

July 3, 2018

The G7 Charter fails to create a Zero Waste solution that is based on the guiding principles of conserving resources and doing no harm to environment. Advocates around the world are particularly concerned with a word hidden in the charter’s fine print: “recovery.”

June 29, 2018

MANILA, Philippines – The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the suspension of Environment Undersecretary Juan Miguel Cuna in connection with the controversial shipment of container vans of trash from Canada in 2013.

June 20, 2018

It’s estimated as much as eight million tonnes of plastic ends up in the world’s oceans each year; this massive problem of plastic pollution will not be solved without strong commitments to reduce single-use plastics. Recycling will not solve the problem at source.

January 4, 2018

Zero Waste Canada (ZWC), a British Columbia, Canada-based nonprofit organization focused on responsible resource management and policies, has issued a response to recent announcements out of China related to its import ban on certain grades of scrap paper and plastic materials, citing the move as a “wake-up call.”

January 3, 2018

Zero Waste Canada (ZWC), a British Columbia, Canada-based nonprofit organization focused on responsible resource management and policies, has issued a response to recent announcements out of China related to its import ban on certain grades of scrap paper and plastic materials, citing the move as a “wake-up call.”

December 29, 2017

TRASH IS A CANADIAN CHRISTMAS TRADITION: Canadians will send 100,000 elephants worth of wrapping paper to the dump this year and Christmas presents are a big culprit.

December 29, 2017

Statistics Canada shows in 2014 — the most recent year for which Canadian data is available — more than 25 million tonnes of waste ended up in Canadian landfills.

Garbage produced from residential sources climbed 18 per cent since 2002, while business and industrial sources declined three per cent.

December 28, 2017

In 2014, Canadians generated more than 700 kilograms of garbage per person, far higher than the 520 kilograms averaged by OECD nations. Japan, which has the best record among OECD nations, produces less than half that.

Alberta produces the most waste per person, at almost 1,000 kilograms per year. Nova Scotia produces the least at less than 400 kilograms per person.

The OECD blames Canada’s garbage habit on the low cost of landfills and the lack of significant financial incentives to recycle or compost.

December 28, 2017

Canadians will send 100,000 elephants worth of wrapping paper to the dump this year and Christmas presents are a big culprit.

December 28, 2017

Zero Waste Canada, a Vancouver-based advocacy group, estimates each Canadian tosses about 50 kilograms of garbage over the holidays, 25 per cent more than the rest of the year.

December 26, 2017

Zero Waste Canada, a Vancouver-based advocacy group, estimates each Canadian tosses about 50 kilograms of garbage over the holidays, 25 per cent more than the rest of the year, thanks to the purchase of 3,000 tonnes of foil, 2.6 billion Christmas cards and six millions rolls of tape.

December 22, 2017

We are a nation of wasters. The average Canadian family sends 25-45% more waste to the landfill over the holiday season. Zero Waste Canada reports that every person will throw away an average of 110 lbs. of garbage this holiday season.

September 7, 2017

Recycling advocates Buddy Boyd and Barb Hetherington say their Bolt Across Canada road trip has re-energized their commitment to zero waste. The Gibsons couple set out from Victoria on July 1 with their final stop in Delta at the end of August.

August 31, 2017

Zero waste advocates Buddy Boyd and Barb Hetherington say their Bolt Across Canada road trip has re-energized their commitment to zero waste and shown them that individual Canadians are adopting zero waste ideals even if their governments aren’t quite there yet.

August 24, 2017

A couple and their dog have made their final charging stop in their to-and-fro trip across Canada in their electric car. Barb Hetherington and Buddy Boyd, along with their dog, Piper, spent about six weeks travelling from Gibsons to St. John’s and then back.

August 24, 2017

A Gibsons couple who crossed Canada in an electric car stopped in Castlegar on their way back home. Barb Hetherington, Buddy Boyd and their dog Piper began their journey across the country on July 1, dipping their Chevy Bolt’s wheels in the Pacific Ocean in Victoria, B.C.

August 24, 2017

On July 1, Buddy Boyd and Barbara Hetherington started their ‘Bolt Across Canada’ trip, to show that zero-waste travel is possible.

August 4, 2017

For many, the August long weekend is the perfect time for a long drive. But one B.C. couple’s journey is not your average summer road trip. Buddy Boyd and Barb Hetherington have driven their fully-electric Chevrolet Bolt all the way to Newfoundland.

July 27, 2017

July 22, 2017

July 18, 2017

Un couple de la Colombie-Britannique traverse le Canada aller-retour en véhicule électrique dans le but de démontrer qu’il est possible de faire un aussi long voyage à travers le pays. L’aventure devrait leur coûter 200 $ en déplacements.

Depuis qu’ils ont commencé leur voyage, Buddy Boyd et Barb Hetherington s’arrêtent un peu partout sur leur passage et rencontrent des propriétaires de véhicules électriques ou des curieux.

July 18, 2017

July 11, 2017

A British Columbia couple is getting a charge driving across Canada in their electric car.

Buddy Boyd and Barb Hetherington, joined by their rescue dog Piper, want Canadians to know a major trip such as a cross-country trek can be done with a vehicle such as their Chevy Bolt.

July 9, 2017

Buddy Boyd’s Chevrolet Bolt is a modern-day electric camel, carrying his family across Canada’s expanse from charging oasis to oasis.

“There are a few spots in the Prairies and Northern Ontario that have us a little worried, where it’s a long way between chargers,” he said.

Gibsons residents Boyd, Barb Hetherington and their 38-kilogram dog Piper are testing the limits of the all-electric Bolt in Saskatchewan right now and so far the road has truly risen to meet them.

July 5, 2017

From coast to coast, one Canadian couple and their dog are trying to prove zero waste and zero emission car travel can be achieved.

Barb Hetherington, Buddy Boyd and canine companion Piper were in Red Deer Tuesday morning taking advantage of the electric chargers at Peavey Mart headquarters. Their trek is called Bolt Across Canada and yes, they’re driving a Chevy Bolt.

April 10, 2017

Buddy Boyd added, “Simple lifestyle choices like making wiser vehicle choices and reducing our waste can make a difference. We want to promote our emerging green highways and roads that are making it easier for more and more Canadians to drive low emissions vehicles and we want to take the message that Zero Waste, one of the quickest, easiest and most effective first steps for individuals and communities, to immediately reduce GHG emissions.”