County`s Blue Grew campaign stresses recycling

High hopes for critter video
By Kate Harries AWARE Simcoe April 25 2012
Simcoe County is counting on a gaggle of garbage- loving creatures to inspire residents to recycle more, using new, larger Blue Boxes designed to accommodate a wide range of low weight and high volume plastics. Environmental services director Rob McCullough yesterday unveiled a 90-second video inspired by the City of Toronto`s award-winning  Chuck and Vince recycling campaign which went viral on YouTube.
McCullough hopes the same happens with the county`s cast of characters – a pair of raccoons (not local, by the sound of them – cottagers perhaps?) as well as a squirrel, a bear and a gull. Link to commercial
The Blue Grew initiative comes 16 months into the current term of council and is its first major media campaign on waste management.  A significant introduction last year was the county`s mobile education unit (MEU), a trailer that takes the county`s waste diversion message on the road.
Sandy Agnew, a member of the AWARE Simcoe board, welcomed both the diversion of plastics from landfill and the increased promotion and education on the waste issue.
“Congratulations to the county for their Blue Grew initiative,“ Agnew said following McCullough`s presentation. “The ads are great and raise the profile of the issue overall.  AWARE Simcoe supports these moves and hopes that the county will build on this to push the province to implement Extended Producer Responsibility.“
Agnew was echoing the sentiments expressed by a couple of councillors at yesterday`s county council meeting.
“I don`t want to rain on the parade,`but in a way we`re treating the symptom, not the disease,“ Wasaga Beach Deputy Mayor David Foster told his fellow councillors. “We still have to be pushing Extended Producer Responsibility.“  EPR involves having manufacturers, rather than the taxpayer, deal with the waste that results from their products. 
Tiny Mayor Ray Millar noted that the county has been disadvantaged in its diversion efforts by having been reclassified by Waste Diversion Ontario. When its population rose above 250,000 last year, the county moved from being near the top of the rural regional category to near the bottom of the urban regional category. The reclassification impacts funding through WDO and the Continuous Improvement Fund, which is based on performance.
The Blue Grew campaign also features a radio spot spoofing the classic Hinterland`s Who`s Who promotions.  If the voice sounds a little familiar, that`s because the actor is the son of the man who was the voice of the hinterland, McCullough said.
Another gadget is the Waste Wizard on the county website. Type in any item to find out if it`s garbage, recyclable or organic.  Data for 60,000 items has been entered.
McCullough said there are now multiple stable markets for plastics, so new materials are now being accepted for recycling, including plastic clam shells, clean plastic plant pots,single-serving  yoghurt, pudding and fruit cups and coffee cup lids.
Still unacceptable are Styrofoam, plastic bags and films, non-container plastic, motor oil bottles and larger plastic containers.
Barrie Examiner   
Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin