Recycling on the Mystical, Misty Isles of Haida Gwaii
Visiting Haida Gwaii feels like time travel; like stepping into another era when mankind was still at the mercy of the elements and insignificant compared to his or her natural surroundings. To call the islands remote is an understatement. The nine hour ferry ride to the nearest chain retail store or fast food joint hammers home the isolation of the rain-soaked archipelago far-flung off the coast of the North American Mainland. Yet, for all its seclusion and staggering wilderness, Haida Gwaii still requires a conscious effort to keep the mystical islands and forests pristine. This means cooperation with the mainland and the creation of the longest recycling stream in British Columbia. Just as a big-city Vancouverite can walk to a recycling depot and bid farewell to a loyal but worn-out toaster and think of it no more, Haida Gwaii, with it’s largest community boasting a population of 950 citizens, has two ElectroRecycle recycling depots.
Even during the thick of it’s rainy season in late September, (technically it’s rainy season is always, but you get my meaning), Haida Gwaii truly puts on a spectacular show. Rain clouds parting to reveal heavenly beacons on sunlight, draping rainbows over every horizon and soaking the ground in enough water to grow spruce forests like sky scrapers. It is from a recycling center nestled in one of these sky-scraping forests that a broken small electrical appliance makes the longest journey in the province. No other recycling center sends it’d recyclables on a longer or more treacherous journey than the Port Clements Solid Waste Facility. The 1600 km trip includes a scenic 9 hours ferry ride, a wondrous sight seeing truck ride through the majestic Skeena Valley, through the expansive Bulkley Valley, across the waving planes of the Fraser Fort George interior, beyond the frontier of the Cariboo, into the dusty Okanagan before finding its final resting place in the Fraser Valley.
This might seem like a long and winding road trip for some little broken small appliance to deserve, but on an island chain as well preserved and important to our North American Heritage as Haida Gwaii, it’s the right thing to do. The impeccably preserved and protected southern half of the Archipelago is hardly accessible at all, yet it’s a can’t miss destination for Canadians starting to work on their bucket lists.
Our plan for the trip was added coverage for the six small communities on Haida Gwaii. We hosted Recycling round-up BBQ’s, in collaboration with great local groups such as the Junior Rangers, the Legion, and the Community Hall Society, in the towns of Sanspit, Masset/ Old Masset, Port Clements, and Queen Charlotte/ Skidegate.
The events were clearly something the people of Haida Gwaii had been looking forward to. (I mean how often so you get free lunch for recycling a broken vacuum?). The events collected over 775 kg of broken small appliance and power tools! That’s almost a tonne of electrical products that could have ending up in landfills on the islands.
We’re hoping to come back again next year and with the help of great organizations like the Junior Rangers and the Port Clements Community Hall Society we know next year can be even better.