Starting on June 29, garbage collection in Port Moody will change dramatically. The city will move collection in-house, taking over from International Paper Industries, and will implement an automated system. Residents with curbside collection will receive three bear-resistant carts – one for regular household waste, one for recyclables, and one green bin for yard waste and compostable kitchen waste. Automated trucks will pick up and empty the carts when they’re left at curbside.
The new carts are being issued to residents by the city. Delivery started on Wednesday, and will be continuing through June 24. The city website has a cart delivery schedule, as well as contact information if you have any questions or concerns. Most residents who live in single-family homes will receive one 240L recycling cart, one 240L green bin, and one 120L garbage cart. The city website also offers detailed information about the carts, as well as a snazzy flash video on why they’re so great.
Starting on June 29, residents will need to bring their carts to the curb by 7:30 am on collection day. Household garbage will be collected each week, and recycling and green waste will be collected on alternating weeks. Green bins will be collected on the first week, recycling the second, green bins on the third, and so on. Carts should be parked on the street so that the arrow points out into the road. The wheels should be touching the curb, and you need to leave at least an arm’s length of space on both sides of each cart.
Recycling and green waste do not need to be sorted, and no bin liner is required. In fact, plastic bags would contaminate the green waste. Acceptable green waste includes yard waste such as grass clippings and leaves, as well as compostable kitchen scraps such as vegetable peelings and coffee grounds. The city website has more detailed information on which green waste and recyclables are accepted.
The City of Port Moody hopes that the new garbage system will reduce costs, and reduce the amount of waste going to landfills. These are important goals, and contribute to a healthy and sustainable city, region, and planet. So take the time now to familiarize yourself with the new system, and consider how you can reduce your own waste. The Earth will thank you for it.
For those of you who didn’t get out to the Wearable Art Awards on May 9th and 10th, here’s a video posted on Youtube by user marccountry
The pieces continue to be on display at the Port Moody Arts Centre until June 28th. You can see photographs of all the winning works at www.wearableartawards.com
In 2008, a couple of guys decided to take a little bike ride to raise money and awareness for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada. This little bike ride was the 8000 km from Victoria to St. John’s. Cameras followed them on the journey, and the resulting documentary is ready for its BC premiere.
The BC showing is this Friday, May 29th at the Evergreen Cultural Centre in Coquitlam (1205 Pinetree Way).
Check out the trailer and more information at the project website.
There are two showings 7pm, and an 8:30pm cocktail reception before the second screening at 9pm. Tickets are $10 and can be had through the Evergreen Cultural Centre box office.
Have you heard of ‘food miles’? The term refers to how far the food that you eat has to travel from the farm to your plate. And it can be pretty far, anywhere from 2500 to 4000 km for a single item that you buy at the store. This is a problem because all that transporting and cooling uses energy and creates greenhouse gas emissions. One small and important step that we can take is to eat local whenever we can.
If you want to eat local, there’s no better place to start than the Coquitlam Farmer’s Market. Started by SFU students in 1996, the market is now in its 14th season and going strong. Vendors offer hand crafts, baked goods, meat and seafood, and processed foods like pickles and jams. But the highlight is the farm-fresh produce. Everything at the market was either made, baked, or grown in BC. The market runs every Sunday until October 26 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm in the parking lot of Dogwood Pavilion, on Winslow at Poirier in Coquitlam.
And starting this Sunday getting your farm-fresh produce is even easier. The Coquitlam Farmer’s Market will be operating a pocket market on Knowle Street, just East of the Port Moody Recreation Complex from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm every Sunday. The market will gather a selection of food from the farmer’s and sell it on their behalf. It’s the perfect chance to stop off and get some local food after your workout or your library visit.
There are lots of great reasons to visit the farmer’s market that go beyond reducing your carbon footprint. Many farmers sell new and interesting fruit and veggies that you can’t find in a supermarket. The food is fresh and tastes great. You’re contributing to our local economy. And it’s a real community experience, giving you a chance to chat with the people who grow and produce your food.
If you do go, be sure to bring your re-usable bags and lots of cash, since most vendors don’t accept other forms of payment. Bring along the kids or the dog (on a leash) and enjoy some great local BC food.
Newport Village has a new green grocer in town, and they’re kicking open their doors with a Grand Opening celebration this Sunday.
Kin’s Farm Market has opened their doors, the Grand Opening is…
Sunday, May 24th, 2009
11am – 3pm in Newport Village
Lunch will be served at noon. Grilled Salmon, Hot Dogs, Ice Cream, and I’m sure a vegetable or two will be available. Lunch is by donation and will benefit the Canadian Cancer Society Relay for Life. There will be arts and crafts, balloons, a climbing wall, and best of all, cake.
For more information, check out www.kinsfarmmarket.com
Can Can Can you do the Can Can? The Golden Spike Days Festival, the premiere event of the summer in Port Moody, is looking for volunteers to help put on the event.
The 33rd Annual edition of the festival runs from July 3rd to 5th at Rocky Point Park. We’ll be enjoying entertainment, rides, displays, great food, and the ever-awesome Can Can Dancers. It’s certainly something my family has not missed in the time we’ve been living here.
Mandy Ellis, assistant coordinator of the Festival, got in touch with me this week as they’re putting out a call for volunteers to come help out with the event. Golden Spike Days would not be possible without volunteer help from the community. They are looking for help in such areas as traffic control, children’s rides, site management, selling tickets in the beer garden, and pretty much anything else you can think of. Volunteers get fed, watered, and get free admission to the Festival.
Click here for more information about volunteering with Golden Spike Days
Click here for the volunteer signup form
You can also call the Festival office at (604) 931-8852.
It’s the Victoria Day long weekend! This marks the traditional kick-off to summer here on the West Coast, so we’re all heading outside. When it’s not pouring rain, that is.
Nothing says summer like a picnic in the park. To facilitate the picnicking everyone’s favourite fish ‘n chip place, Pajo’s, will be open daily from 11am – 8pm starting this weekend. (Although their website suggests that if the weather is totally miserable you might want to phone ahead. The phone number for their Port Moody location is 604-469-2289.)
The Pajo’s in Rocky Point Park has been in business since 1988, and their popularity remains strong. As their tagline says, they are ‘famous for fish and chips’, but they also offer items such as yellowfin tuna burgers, buffalo burgers, veggie dogs, and mushy peas. If you’ve had the mushy peas, leave a comment and let us know if they’re good. I find the idea intriguing, but haven’t sampled them. To date my favourite Pajo’s item is their fresh-squeezed lemonade.
I probably haven’t told you much that you don’t already know. There is a great fish ‘n chip restaurant in Rocky Point Park. It is very popular. It is open in the summer, or when the weather is nice. It is called … Pay-jo’s? Pah-jo’s? What the heck is with that name, and how do you say it?
Pajo’s was founded by Pat Branch, and her partner Joan. The name was created by combining the first two letters of their first names. Joan left in 1991, but the name remains. Their website says the name is pronounced ‘Pãjos’, with a short ‘a’. I think. Regardless of how you say it, to me Pajo’s means summer in Port Moody. Yum!
We’ve got new MLA’s in the Tri-Cities, but a lot fewer of us bothered to show up to mark the ballot. The Provincial Election on Tuesday finished up with only 50% of eligible voters making it to the polls. This sets a new all-time low for voter turnout, 8 points lower than the 58% who voted in 2005. The question this raises is whether people feel less connected to their community, or less connected to the political process. Hopefully it’s about the political process, or this website may not have much of a future.
We ended up voting pretty much the same way we all voted in 2005, here are our new MLA’s.
Coquitlam-Burke Mountain
Liberal Douglas Horne is the new kid on the block in the new riding. He cruised to victory with a little over 57% of the vote.
Coquitlam-Maillardville
New Democrat Diane Thorne returns to Victoria with 47.61% of the vote, beating Liberal candidate Dennis Marsden by a margin of only 510 votes. This race was the closest of the bunch, repeating what happened in this riding in 2005.
Port Coquitlam
New Democrat Mike Farnworth is reelected with over 54% of the vote. Interestingly, he was the only candidate in the Tricities to garner over 10,000 votes.
Port Moody – Coquitlam
Liberal Iain Black is back, with a little over 52% of the vote. Rebecca Helps of the Green Party recieved 1201 votes, the most of any Green candidate in the Tricities. With this result the V3H comes out firmly pro-tree.
As for the STV, it really wasn’t close. It only won 7 of the 51 ridings needed to get passed. Provincially, 38.82% voted for it, well shy of the 60% threshold needed. Locally, the percentage who voted for it…
- Coq-Burke Mountain: 34.2%
- Coq-Maillardville: 36.7%
- Poco: 33.69%
- Port Moody: 37.14%
So at the end of the day we end up with basically the same result as the 2005 election, we continue to use first-past-the-post as our system for choosing our representatives, and voter apathy hit an all time high.
Any ideas why people stayed away? What can we do about it?
Photo by John Seinen
It’s Bike to Work Week this week, where we are all encouraged to get out of our cars and grab transportation of the two-wheeled, human powered variety.
The Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition is hosting a couple bicycle commuter support stations in the Tri-Cities this week. Volunteers from the VACC will be handing out free coffee and snacks. Norco Bikes, Caps Westwood, and Secret Cycle will be there for tech support and they’ll be doing a survey on average trip distance for those riding their bike to work.
If you register with the VACC and log your trips, you’re eligible for some fabulous prizes.
The first support station was this morning in Coquitlam, the Port Moody commuter support station will be held…
When: Friday, May 15th. 6am – 8:30am
Where: Ioco and Murray (in front of the Fire Hall), Port Moody
It’s sponsored by the Tri-Cities VACC Committee, the City of Port Moody, and Norco. Enjoy the ride!
Tomorrow we go to the polls to elect a new provincial government. Not only is the ritual of voting fun and gets you out of the house, but it reaffirms how great it is that we live in a democracy where we can peacefully change governments every few years by just showing up at your local elementary school gym and marking a ballot.
Here’s what you need to know to get your vote counted in the Tri-Cities on Tuesday…
1. You should have received a voter registration card in the mail, which will tell you where to go to vote. If you didn’t get one, you can vote at your local polling station. Just bring a piece of government ID with your name and address on it, or two pieces of mail that have your name and address, like a hydro bill. Apparently voting more than once is discouraged, so ID is necessary. The full list of what you can bring to vote is listed here
2. Show up at your polling station. It’s either on your voter registration card, or Elections BC has this form where you can enter your address and it tells you where to go with a handy map.
You can see our ridings with candidates, maps, and polling stations…
3. You get the ballot, get to go behind that cool little cardboard screen, and mark a couple of X’s. There are only two things you have to decide in this election.
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who you want to represent you as your MLA
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whether or not you want to make the next election a multiple choice quiz by changing our voting system from first past the post to the brand new STV. We discussed this in detail last week.
Take a few minutes out of your day tomorrow to do this one small thing that means so much. Even better, bring your kids along and tell them about what you’re doing and why.
Tell us your stories of going to the polls in the comments, I love hearing the stories about the overzealous scrutineers we sometimes encounter 
