Recycling conference brings fresh ideas

The things we do now will directly impact generations to come.

That’s the sentiment that inspired Toronto filmmaker Andrew Nisker to produce the movie Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home.

Nisker, keynote speaker at the Recycling Council of Alberta’s 2008 conference, held in Jasper last week, said it’s clear the environment he grew up in caused or exacerbated his asthma. “When I was born you could smoke in the maternity ward, it was a different world then,” he said. “Since my mother smoked and I got sick, I thought, ‘How are my decisions going to impact my son Sebastian?’” 

Garbage! identifies a number of environmental issues, while documenting a couple that agreed to hang on to all the trash produced by their family – three kids included – for three months. The family is used as a case study of sorts to demonstrate that the “revolution starts at home,” or that simple household changes can make a big difference.

Nisker made the film, “to unveil the mystery that happens behind the scenes.” For example, the billions of litres of raw sewage the City of Toronto dumps into Lake Ontario each year because its sewer system is antiquated. “Products used at home and things we ingest go straight into the river,” he said. 

Chemicals in common products such as household cleaners are a big concern for Nisker. “If a bottle has a skull and crossbones on it, why would you spray that in your bathtub?” he said. “Past generations used vinegar, water, baking soda and essential oils. If you can drink it, it should be okay.”

Nisker also addressed plastic, which he called a fantastic invention. “But the matter of needing it and overusing it are different,” Nisker said. “As hard as we try, only five per cent of plastic is recycled globally. Where does the rest end up?”

Consumption and packaging are two things everyone should watch out for, Nisker said. Holidays such as Halloween and Christmas mark the time of year for the highest levels of consumption, but there are ways to cut back, especially at celebrations. “Use cloth napkins, china – it’s the old-fashioned way but it’s the classier way,” he said. “I know it’s harder, you have to wash the dishes, but that’s what your family’s for.”

Environmental stewardship coordinator Janet Cooper attended the conference and said it’s a great place to share ideas. “I went to it last year in Calgary, that’s where I got the idea for zero waste events,” she said. “I hear somebody’s doing something and I think, ‘I can do that’.”

Cooper was watching for information pertaining to the four goals set out by the environmental stewardship committee for 2008, which are to continue education and communication, to advance recycling and composting, to reduce the use of plastic bags and to develop public transit.

“One goal is to get everybody composting under their kitchen sink,” Cooper said. “That would cut municipal waste by 30 per cent. It will be hard to get there, but we’ll continue to push, push, push.”

To get the word out about the issues raised in Garbage!, Nisker encourages people to show the film at screening parties, something Cooper said she would consider doing in Jasper. 

Jr./Sr. High School teacher Adam Robb, who said he’d also like to hold a screening, brought members from the Action Club to watch Nisker’s presentation including Theresa Westhaver, 15, who was impressed by the show. “I like how he gave actual facts and didn’t gloss over them,” she said. “You can understand what he’s saying.”

Three hundred attendees and speakers registered for the conference, which ran from Oct. 8 to 10 at the Jasper Park Lodge and included a range of sessions on topics including zero waste communities, composting and being green on the farm. The Recycling Council of Alberta also held its annual general meeting on Thursday.