Parents try to cut down on waste
As anyone who’s had a child can attest, babies come with extraordinary amounts of equipment. Where once your home may have been presentable enough for unexpected company, or at least the FedEx guy, it’ll now be strewn with space-gobbling gear, much of it in crayon-like hues. From bouncy seats to playmats, Jolly Jumpers to ExerSaucers, your infant’s infrastructure will occupy much of the view from where you sit marooned on the sofa in a fortress of pillows and burp clothes.
The problem is, long after our babies outgrow this stuff, the mostly plastic gear will persist, first in our attics and storage lockers, perhaps, and then in landfills.
But the growing number of parents who are concerned about the impact of these objects on the planet we’re leaving for our kids can find solutions and resources at Toronto’s first Zero Waste Fair on May 12.
The event will be held as part of the sixth annual Spring into Parkdale Sidewalk Festival and Night Market on Queen St. W.
Organizer Alison Pope of Zero Waste Toronto says she’s encouraged by the surge of interest in the waste-reduction movement over the past year. “I think the pictures that are getting out online and in media really help,” she said, referring to stories in the news recently about where blue box items really end up and just how much plastics are in the oceans. (A study published in March found that the patch of garbage floating in the Pacific is now three times the size of France.)
So what can families do to make sure at least some of babies’ gear leaves their households in low-carbon style?
The folks at Red Propeller, a Toronto recycling company, will be at the Zero Waste Fair to talk about their initiatives, which include the only car seat recycling program in Ontario.
General manager Dave Neilson says car seats are known in the waste-management industry as “an ongoing waste stream.”
Not only do they have expiry dates, but organizations that take other household items, like Salvation Army or Value Village, won’t take car seats because they can’t guarantee the seats meet safety standards.
Red Propeller breaks car seats down and separates the three main elements so they can be recycled: metal parts to a local scrap yard, cloth to a Toronto carpet recycler that shreds it up for things like punching-bag stuffing and all that plastic to a recycler in Pickering that grinds it up so it can be melted and reformed.
“Aside from all the Cheerios and the occasion nickel and dime under the cloth, that’s about it,” says Neilson.
The tricky part is that municipalities aren’t yet funding this service, so individuals have to pay a $15 fee to Red Propeller to responsibly dispose of a car seat. While the fee is modest, Neilson acknowledges that it’s prohibitive for some.
“We’re competing with landfill, which for a resident is free,” he says. “If you had to pay to dispose of it or recycle it then that may influence your choice.”
Plus, it takes more effort than setting it out on the curb, so — for now at least — that could narrow the customers to those who are relatively eco-conscious.
At the Zero Waste Fair, Red Propeller will be offering car seat recycling for a discount, plus talking to parents about the company’s new recycling projects, which will soon include bike and hockey helmets, and possibly those big, plastic toy kitchens.
The stroller is often the largest and biggest-ticket item people buy for babies.
Liz Hysen, who owns the Toronto Stroller Spa franchise, where she repairs and cleans strollers and sells good-quality second-hand options, will also be at the fair to offer minor tune-ups and information about extending the life of baby’s ride.
While she says some parents just don’t feel comfortable with used baby items, others are seeing the environmental — and economic — value of gently used strollers. “I think the rising costs of baby gear, plus paying for child care is driving people to take second-hand things more.”
Hysen says she’s tries to remind parents that “newer baby gear isn’t necessarily better made.”
It’s worth considering that not everywhere in the world are infants raised with all these modern-day accoutrements.
Tracey TieF is a leader in Toronto’s zero-waste movement. She runs Anarres Natural Health Apothecary, a notfor-profit store and online retailer of healthy personal and household products with ecofriendly packaging. She will also be exhibiting at the fair.
TieF had two children 11 years apart. When her first was born 23 years ago, she acquired almost everything second hand. “I bought a bike trailer from my yoga teacher and then passed it on in great shape eight years later.”
Anything she needed when her second came along in 2006 she got from friends or freecycling sites.
But lowering the amount of waste your family creates can start simply with things like avoiding single-use plastic water bottles. “For a while now most backpacks have had a slot on the side to put a thermos or water bottle, and if we just make it a part of our lifestyle to carry these items with us, we won’t feel deprived.”
Likewise, Zero Waste Fair organizer Alison Pope encourages parents to “start where you are.”
If you’re not already, make a habit of carrying a reusable shopping bag with you, or a collapsible coffee mug. “I understand they get caught in the day-to-day busyness of school and work, and it can seem like a lot to take on.”
But “it’s not about being perfect,” she says. “It’s definitely a journey.”
The Zero Waste Fair will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 12 on Queen St. W. and Cowan Ave.