Central Okanagan

The Regional Waste Reduction Office wants to help you reduce the paper clutter in your home - and offer you a new Apple iPad in the process.

Photo: Contributed

The Regional Waste Reduction Office has launched the 'Paper Free Home' campaign which promotes eliminating unnecessary waste and using less paper.

Waste Reduction Supervisor Peter Rotheisler says residents in the Central Okanagan have a great track record when it comes to recycling, but the recycle model still involves generating waste, then having to collect, transport and process it.

“Eighty five per cent of the material collected from the curbside recycling program is paper and the net cost of this program to residents in the Central Okanagan is more than two million dollars annually.  Recycling is expensive and there’s a simple way of significantly reducing these costs by going paper free or reducing the amount of paper you consume," says Rotheiser.

The Waste Reduction Office conducted a pilot project in the summer of 2012, where 16 homes from Peachland to Lake Country volunteered to collect all the paper delivered to their home for an entire month, including newspapers, door hangers, flyers and everything in their mail box.

At the end of the month the average home had collected 13 pounds of paper, the highest home collecting 25 pounds, the lowest 1.6 pounds. A few of the homes that were already paper free were on average collecting only 2.2 pounds of paper

There are seven steps to go paper free, including:

• Use No Flyers or Junk Mail Stickers or Signs
• Remove your name from addressed ad mail lists
• Switch to reading news and flyers online
• Switch to Electronic Bills, On-line Banking and eStatements. Pay your bills on-line through your bank.
• Switch to online Yellow Pages
• Reduce paper in your home by opting to read documents on your computer screen and always print double sided (change the default setting on your printer).
• Switch your favourite magazine subscription to the digital version. Many magazines have versions that can be read on your computer, lap top, tablet, smart phone or e-reader.Use No Flyers or Junk Mail Stickers or Signs

By completing the online pledge to complete at least five of the seven steps, you can enter to win one of three Apple iPods being given away by December 15.