Every spring hundreds and hundreds of vehicles stream onto the Squamish Valley Road and down the Landfill Road as the District of Squamish's annual community clean up leads into free dump days.
Those days might be over as a local group pushes for a revised district solid waste management plan that would see the elimination of free access to the landfill.
On Monday (Feb. 22), Squamish Climate Action Network (CAN) co-ordinator Ana Santos sent out an email to local environmentalists proclaiming "Free Dump Days" as we know them are history in Squamish.
"In line with this forward-looking strategy, the Waste group in Squamish CAN has been pushing for a ban of 'free dump days' in our community, which until now allowed residents to dispose of their 'junk' at the landfill for free once a year," states the email. "Well, this tradition is now history - council has taken the bold step to move away from the unchecked disposal of 'waste,' and the district will now collaborate with Squamish CAN and Carney's to offer a responsible, educational, and fun alternative to free dump days."
Santos aid the environmental group approached council with an idea to abolish free dumping at the landfill and divert as much as possible into recycling and reusing programs.
"Instead of just having a day at the landfill where we just leave our stuff there in piles and nothing happens to it we'll be wanting to turn this into a day where we all learn about [what] can be reused or recycled and do so."
Instead of access to the landfill, said Santos, locals would drop off items at Carney's Waste Systems Squamish Recycling Centre where volunteers would help sort and separate into electronics, wood waste, plastics and clothes. Each pile would then be sent to organizations in Western Canada for recycling.
"We need as many of us as possible to make this a great, successful event," states Santos's email. "Please mark your calendar; tentative date for this very exciting day is Saturday, May 1st, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m."
However the email may have been premature.
Municipal chief administrative officer Kevin Ramsay said the district has not adopted any such policies, but explained acting engineering manager Brian Barnett is looking into the idea.
"Now we're in the early stages of kind of coming up with ideas so nothing has been decided but there's a lot of excited about making improvements to improve recycling and reducing solid waste," Barnett said.
Barnett roughly estimates the landfill receives about 60 tons of solid waste daily, but he believes with a district run sorting and recycling program, that number could drop to a mere 20 tons a day.
"So there's huge opportunities here to move [what some people don't need] out of the garbage stream and get it so somebody else benefits from it or it gets recycled some how."
Since it's in the early stages of brainstorming, Barnett said he couldn't say if the program would be free, but added free would be preferable.
"Yeah, we'd like it to be free for sure. There's been a cost [to the district] to the free landfill so if we're willing to provide free garbage disposal, why wouldn't we also provide free recycling?"
Another detail that's still up in the air is how the public will react to the elimination of this popular service.
Barnett said although he recognized free dump days have been historically popular with Squamish residents, he hasn't thought about engaging with locals on the matter just yet because so many people are either away for the Olympic Games or very busy during the Games.
"I'm guessing though, if we could recycle 80 per cent of the material [usually brought in on free dump day] that leaves very little garbage left so the free landfill days is much less important to people because they have an alternative."
Coun. Corinne Lonsdale said since alternatives aren't available yet she will continue to support the free dump days.
"I am always keen to look at ways to reduce waste in our landfill. However we must have an alternative plan in place to insure the material deposited in the landfill on free dump days does not end up in the estuary or other wooded areas that are so easily accessed in our area. Until we have that plan I will continue to support free dump days."
