By Stacy O’Brien
When most people think of recycling, they think about pitching their pop and soup cans or their old newspapers and cardboard into bins to be picked up on the curbside. But for some local businesses, recycling has taken on a whole new meaning.
Bert Miner, owner of Bert’s Bikes on Bronson Avenue, stands amid a basement full of bicycles. There appears to be a mix of old and new bikes. Some have banana seats, others are geared for riding down a mountain or through traffic. The one thing they have in common is that they’re all used.
Miner gets many of his bikes through police auctions, but also from people who want to get rid of their bikes and don’t want to throw them in the dump. Miner is involved in the City of Ottawa’s Take It Back program.
“It’s fantastic, because we’re recycling,” Miner says. “You’ve got to give back to the Earth instead of just taking. It gets everybody recycling and not just sending it into the dump.”
He gets anywhere from one to 10 bikes dropped off each month in the summer and re-uses the parts to fix up other ones. Miner says he’ll even take used toothbrushes as part of the program, which he uses to clean and grease the bicycles.
The Take It Back program began in 1997 with 16 businesses taking back used motor oil, tires, antifreeze and car batteries. The program has expanded to include 437 businesses throughout Ottawa taking back everything from printers and hard drives to hypodermic needles and Brita water filters. The program puts out a directory of businesses involved every year and posts the information on the Ottawa city website.
“I’ve been trying to get more and more partners on board,” says George Reimer, the waste diversion project co-ordinator of the program.
In 2002, summer students working for the Take It Back program did an informal survey to see how much was being saved from going to the dump. Reimer says summer students working for the Take It Back program surveyed 14 of the 65 products taken back by businesses.
They found that 14,000 tires, 56,000 litres of motor oil, 25,000 pairs of eyeglasses and 7,600 printers were saved from the landfill site. Reimer explains that the city has saved more than $100,000 in disposal costs for the 14 items surveyed alone.
“The program is important because it gives an alternative to the disposal of waste. It’s a product stewardship program with retailers taking some responsibility,” he says. “It’s novel and it’s voluntary.”
Perry Spano, owner of Right Stop Computer Shop on Slater Street, says the Take It Back program is good for retailers and their customers.
Spano takes back printers, old hard drives and ink cartridges. He refills the ink cartridges and sometimes fixes hard drives, which he resells at a reduced rate.
“It’s sort of 50/50,” says Spano. “We make money. But there’s money both ways. It’s to make a profit, but it’s also saving garbage and the customers money.”
In a corner in the backroom of the shop, old hard drives and keyboards are scattered on the floor like playing cards. Behind them are shelves of sleek rounded printers that look new.
“People will buy a printer for $50 and then two cartridges are worth more than the printer sometimes,” he says. “What does that encourage them to do? Throw it out. Rather than buy the two cartridges people will throw the printer out. It’s like getting rid of the car instead of filling it with gas.”
Spano says sometimes he’ll just leave computer hard drives by the door for people to take if they can use them. “When you put it by the door people take it immediately. It’s like they found the centre in the Caramilk bar.”