Reduce your waste this holiday season

The Region of Peel reminds residents that it’s easy to reduce your waste this holiday season by following a few simple guidelines.

Instead of using traditional wrapping paper, consider using cloth bags, newspaper comic pages and colourful blankets or tea towels to wrap your gifts this year. Keep all ribbons and bows for reuse.

“Peel residents can do their part to support our recycling efforts by wrapping their gifts with materials that can be recycled or re-used,” said Dave Gordon, manager of waste planning. “It’s an easy way to reduce the accumulation of waste during the holidays.”

Most printed wrapping paper and packaging tissue paper are recyclable. Place all of your recyclable paper in your recycling box or transparent (clear or tinted blue) bags for collection.

The following items are

not recyclable:

* Shiny metallic coated papers.

* Plastic laminated papers.

* Ribbons, bows, beads, string or garland/tinsel.

* Paper with lots of tape on it.

These items contain non-paper contaminants which cannot be recycled. Ribbons, bows and strings can get caught up in the recycling machinery. Place these items in your garbage for collection or keep them for re-use next year.

The Region of Peel provides waste management services in the Cities of Brampton and Mississauga and in the Town of Caledon. For more information on these programs, call the Region of Peel at 905-791-9499 or in long-distance areas of Caledon, call 905-584- 2216, free of charge. Visit the Region of Peel Web site at peelregion.ca/waste.

Waste Exemption

Period through Jan. 5

There will be a twoweek curbside waste collection exemption period from Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2006 to Friday, Jan. 5, 2007. During this two-week period, residents may place unlimited quantities of acceptable garbage at the curb on their scheduled collection day. No garbage tags will be required for this two-week period.

Tree collection

Christmas trees will be collected throughout the month of January on regular waste collection days. If you live in an organics collection area, place your tree beside your organics cart by 7 a.m. on your regular organics collection day. If you do not receive organics collection services, place your tree at the curb for collection on your regular collection day.

Be sure to remove all outer plastic bags, ornaments, tinsel, nails, wire and the Christmas tree stand from your tree. Christmas trees buried in snow banks may not be picked up.

Trees collected from areas in Caledon that receive organics collection services are transported to the Peel Organics Composting Facility located at the Caledon Sanitary Landfill Site. At this facility the trees are processed into garden compost. Finished compost is available for purchase at the Region’s Community Recycling Centres. Visit Peel’s Web site at peelcompost.ca for more information.

Residents may also drop off their Christmas trees at the Caledon Sanitary Landfill Site and Depot, located at Highway 24 and McLaren Road, or at the Bolton Community Recycling Centre, located at 109 Industrial Rd. in Bolton. Regular drop-off fees will apply. A minimum $2 drop-off fee is applied to all loads up to and including 25 kg. The drop-off fee for loads in excess of 25 kg is 8¢ per kg.