2015 July Pender Post
The Recycling Depot is now operating on Summer hours (June-September): Tuesday 8am-3pm, Friday and Saturday 10am-3pm and Sunday 1-4pm. The ReCycle Community Bike Shop has reopened for repairs, tune-ups, bike sales, parts, and safety checks, with bike mechanic Laurie Brown on-site Tuesdays and Fridays 10am-2pm as well as most Sundays. Bikes can be dropped off anytime during Depot open hours for Laurie to work on; please see a staff member.
If you are a visitor or new to the island, the best way to spot a Depot staff member is to look for someone wearing gloves and a green shirt. Newcomers are encouraged to ask us for a tour of the facility. Our website is also full of information about our services and operation; please see www.penderislandrecycling.com. We’d like to invite you to peruse our ReShop and its inventory of up-cycled and re-use items available for a donation, and the FreeStore, full of curiosity items looking for a new home.
With wasp season coming up, and being mindful of people with allergies to stings, we want to thank everyone for being so diligent with washing/rinsing recyclables before dropping them off.
The PIRS staff and Board are currently working on plans for the future of PIRS, looking at numerous creative ideas and solutions for how we can fulfil our mandate to the Pender community. Part of this plan includes supporting interesting ways to promote wider re-use and sustainable practices. Another part of our planning process is to look for ways to become more financially diversified so that we’re not as dependant on one or two funding sources.
Speaking of sustainable practices, if you have not seen our new solar panel system yet, remember to look up at the roof as you approach the Recycling Depot from the east. You can read more about this system and its operation, energy generation and installation on our website www.penderislandrecycling.com. In just two months, this system has generated 3.6 megawatt-hours, which is more energy than would be created by burning two barrels of crude oil. Pretty impressive.
The Fall Fair is coming up on Saturday August 22, and we’d like to encourage you to start thinking about and working on recycled creations to enter in this year’s fair in either the Youth or Individual/Family categories under Section R, Recycling. Entries can be either artistic or functional or a combination; please see the Recycling entry details on page 63 of the 2015 Pender Islands Fall Fair program for more details. When you’re looking for material for your entry, don’t forget the recycling depot as a source of material.
As in prior years, PIRS plans to be at the Fall Fair with recycling bins, composting, and food waste bins set up, to help reduce garbage and keep working towards a garbage-free Fall Fair. Thanks to the hard work of Fall Fair organizers and the conscientiousness of fair-goers, the garbage bin will be the smallest of the bins! From 2010 to 2014 garbage at the Fall Fair has been reduced by approximately 60%. Just another reason that they’re all good days on Pender.
Anna Herlitz