Dear editor,
I know that in today’s world, its all to easy to forget about things like garbage. There seems to be a growing list of "bigger" problems to worry about. So when I talk about recycling Styrofoam meat trays, it might seem easier to just throw them in the garbage and forget about them. But let’s think about that a bit more.
If everyone in the world recycled just one meat tray and/or one single use plastic for just one day, you would divert an area roughly the size of Cochrane's downtown core from landfills and/or becoming discarded pollution – and that’s a conservative estimate. Even if you were not to think globally or on a macro level, there is the simple fact that you would have more space in your trashcan. The ‘re-use’ portion of the ‘reduce, re-use and recycle’ triad is the most efficient component.
Early in the COVID pandemic, the Town of Cochrane stopped recycling meat trays. I talked to Town staff who told me they needed to do this because of COVID health restrictions meant they didn’t have space for this function that followed Alberta health guidelines. Now that there are no more health restrictions related to COVID, I hope we can get back on track to accept meat trays again.
Regards
Dan Cunin
