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BEARS IN AREA: Tips for keeping your trash away from bruins

Warmer weather will act like an oven for kitchen waste and what smells horrid to humans smells like dinner to a bear.

Warmer weather will act like an oven for kitchen waste and what smells horrid to humans smells like dinner to a bear.

Take a tip from Coquitlam Bear Aware co-ordinator Drake Stephens, who has lived on Burke Mountain - otherwise known as bear country - all his life. He suggests freezing kitchen waste in newspaper or paper bags and keeping it indoors until collection morning. It will barely have time to thaw before it's picked up by city garbage collectors.

Plastic ice cream buckets or closable plastic bags can also be used to store and freeze garbage, Stephens said, noting frozen scraps must be dumped out because plastic is not allowed in green waste bins.

"These are things old-time Burke Mountain residents have done for years to avoid conflicts with bears," he said.

Coquitlam residents can also purchase bear-resistant containers for $140 but they will still have to package their kitchen waste because the bins are too heavy for the collector to lift and tip into the truck.

In Port Coquitlam, residents can purchase Critter Guard locks, at $75 each, to make their garbage and green waste less accessible to bears.

Bear-resistant cans are already being used in Port Moody but, as in all three cities, garbage can't be put out on the curb until the morning of collection, between 5:30 and 7:30 a.m.

dstrandberg@tricitynews.com