Like every jurisdiction, the City of Yellowknife recycles in its own unique way and so do its residents. From the casual observer to the ultra Earth saviour, participation varies. But for some, sorting paper and plastic – and preserving the planet in the process – is a passion.
“If you don’t really feel committed to doing it, chances are you’ll stop doing it. You have to really want to do it,” said Lani Cooke, a self-described “hardworking” recycler.
Cardboard, mixed paper, newspaper, glass jars, tin cans and plastics – the retired Yellowknifer does it all, recycling “pretty much everything,” on a regular basis.
“You have to clean the glass jars, rinse out the tin cans that have had food in them. You’ve got to clean out your plastic ice cream buckets and window cleaner bottles,” said Cooke of the “focused, hard work” she undertakes.
But for Cooke, the time consuming process – which sees her take her carefully curated recyclables to one of the city’s six designated drop off sites – is worth it.
“It does make you feel good, you’re doing your little part,” she said.
Retired Yellowknifer Lani Cooke, a self-described “hardworking” recycler, says sorting and saving can be time-consuming, but it's worth it knowing her contributions may work to curb climate change.
In doing her part by reducing waste, Cooke said she hopes to halt the encroaching “impact of global warming.” The growing threat of climate change, she said, fueled her to become the responsible recycler she is today.
But Cooke wasn’t always so environmentally engaged. It wasn’t until the city launched its recycling program in 1994 that Cooke began to embrace an eco-friendly lifestyle.
After a recent relocation from her past residence in Old Town – where she enthusiastically participated in recycling for over a decade – Cooke is carrying on her routine. So, too, is her daughter.
“She learned it from me growing up and I think she learned the idea that you have to focus on it, you have to work on it, you can’t just be sloppy about it,” Cooke said.
“I think I’ve passed down some of that commitment.”
Cooke said she notices the same dedication throughout the city.
“I think there’s lot of citizens in Yellowknife that share that environmental commitment,” she said.
Lana de Bastiani is one of them.
“I’ve got the numbered types of recyclable plastics in Yellowknife memorized,” de Bastiani stated in an email.
For de Bastiani, who marries passion with practicality, recycling is all about re-envisioning, reusing and re-purposing old products and materials.
At her home, recycled “pop-top” bottles are turned into storage for homemade Kombucha, while empty yogurt containers become mini greenhouses.
“This year I have been saving containers to start my garden seedlings in I have been keeping all of my milk and cream cartons recently to cut the tops off and plant in,” she wrote.
While finding new uses of old products instead of throwing them away has practical and financial benefits, de Bastiani is more concerned about saving the Earth than money.
Plastic cups turned-mini-gardens are just one of the ways Lana de Bastiani re-purposes and re-envisions used products and materials. The avid recycler says she gets personal sanctification knowing she's diverting landfill-bound plastics.
“It is important to recycle because we live in a mass consumer world which results in a ton of garbage. It just breaks my heart thinking about everything that ends up in landfills or too often in the ocean,” she stated.
“By recycling, we are extending and often giving another life to the products we consume or use,” de Bastiani added.
As for beverage containers that can’t be re-purposed, de Bastiani wrote she takes them to the Bottle Shop Recycling Depot.
The beverage container program, run by the Government of the Northwest Territories, is located on #7 Old Airport Road.
The drop-off centre, established in 2005, offers refunds for water, juice, milk, soft drink and alcohol beverage containers.
“I’m only one little person but I’ll do whatever I can to help keep our planet a little cleaner,” de Bastiani said.