Illegal dumping is costing taxpayers millions of dollars each year but the response of most Metro Vancouverites to the illegal ditching of household goods is “meh.”
That could soon change if Metro Vancouver’s Waste in its Place campaign bears fruit and Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore, whose city spends more than $82,000 a year in clean-up costs for dumped goods — one of the highest in the region — said he hopes people start being more responsible for their stuff.
The chair of the Metro Vancouver board said he was “astonished” to find out that 60% of residents surveyed have either dumped household items illegally or would do it in the future, with inconvenience being a deciding factor.
Another 40% told surveyors this past spring that they thought it was OK to dump items in public spaces, believing it was just another form of recycling.
“I can’t believe the majority of the population believes it’s OK to put a mattress or a couch behind a dumpster somewhere,” Moore told The Tri-City News, adding, “Our survey told us we’re not doing enough, so that’s why were launching this campaign.”
The education campaign began July 31, with Metro Vancouver launching wasteinitsplace.ca, which people can use to find places to legally drop off their items for reuse or recycling.
On the website, which is available in a mobile format, users can find out the closest place to take large furniture, electronics, paint and a number of other items. They’ll also learn about municipal programs such as large-item pickup services, pop-up junk days and spring cleaning events. The initiative will also be supported via social media and advertising.
Moore said he believes that when people know better, they will take steps to deal with their waste responsibly, pointing to the mattress recycling program as a positive example. Although people have to pay $30 to drop off their mattress and box spring at the Coquitlam transfer station, he said, they can feel better knowing the mattress will be recycled.
Returning bottles and pop cans for deposit has also successfully kept drinking containers out of the waste stream, he said.
“It’s a good news story at the end of the day. We have to encourage people to get bulky items into the right place for recycling,” Moore said, noting that taxpayers ultimately pay when people dump their junk in back alleys and ravines. “It’s not that this gets picked up for free by the city — there’s a cost.”
According to Metro Vancouver, there were 37,257 incidents of abandoned waste in Metro Vancouver last year, with the most frequently dumped items noted as mattresses, furniture, appliances, carpeting, tires, green waste and larger amounts of household garbage. In all, cities in the region spent more than $5 million in costs to clean up the mess.
