City of Brandon’s 4R Waste Ambassador Program
By Maria Garcia Manzano, AEIC of The Quill
Photo Credits: Brandon.ca
Over the summer, I joined a pilot community ambassador program aimed at promoting conscious waste
diversion. The 4R Waste ambassador program was launched by the City of Brandon and sponsored by
Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba. This program hopes to reach environmentally minded individuals
with interests in promoting the 4Rs Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rethink.
This volunteer pilot program provides training and resources to its volunteer ambassadors to help
educate and inform the rest of the community about the City of Brandon’s waste diversion programs.
Overall, the main goal of the 4R Ambassador Program is to educate residents as to what goes in our
garbage bins to increase efficiencies at the Eastview Landfill.
I joined this volunteer experience because I believe in the importance of educating our community
about conscious waste diversion. As a result, I will be posting tips on The Quill about certain activities we
can all do to achieve more sustainable waste diversion habits over the school year.
My first tip is your local Brandon University 4R ambassador pertains to our Thanksgiving waste.
Thanksgiving is a time where a lot of food is consumed, and we often think a lot of the containers in
which the food we use is packaged in recyclable packages. However, there are a lot of things that are
not recyclable. Therefore, I encourage all of you to look upon Recyclopedia whether the packages you
are unsure of are recyclable or not. Recyclopedia is a valuable tool for all of us who want to ensure we
are correctly recycling. https://simplyrecycle.ca/recyclepedia/ Another tip I have for you is, for all of
those fats and oils that might be used up while cooking the thanksgiving dinner, please DO NOT pour
them down the drain! They are incredibly damaging to rivers and lakes as well as water treatment
facility plants. Instead of running them down the drain, pour them in a can, let them cool, then throw
them out.
*If you are interested in becoming a 4R ambassador or collaborating with me on a project, please feel
free to contact me at: eic.thequill@gamil.com