Recycling Ideas
The more GARBAGE Windward Co-op members put out, the more the co-op is charged by the city each month…which can lead to an increase in housing charges for all of us. That’s why proper recycling and organic waste collection is so important! Everybody has questions about where to put what, and your green committee is here to help.
Consult the convenient online Waste Wizard Tool or download the new waste app for your Apple or Android smartphone.
Where do I put my RECYCLING?
Put it in the bins in the first floor recycling room in the blue or grey.
Recyclable items include: paper, metal, glass, plastic, and cardboard. For a detailed list, see the signs by the elevators, the images on your blue recycling bag, or consult the Waste Wizardtool online at the City of Toronto website. Just type the name of any given item into the search window, and you’ll learn whether it’s recyclable, compostable or garbage!
Note:The small blue bins in the garbage chute cupboards on each floor are for the use of members with mobility issues who can’t easily get to the recycling room.
Large cardboard boxes: Use a knife or scissors to cut them into smaller sheets and place them in one of the two bins marked CARDBOARD in the first floor recycling room. This way, many more boxes can fit in on top of yours.
Where do I put my GARBAGE?
Put it down the chute on your floor so that it is crushed by our compactor.
First floor residents, including members in the townhouse units, you can drop your garbage in the garbage bin beside the recycling room. You can also put it down a garbage chute on another floor. Don’t contaminate our recycling bins!
Where do I put my ORGANIC WASTE?
Put discarded food, fruit and vegetable skin, egg shells, bones from meat, plant clippings and pet waste into a plastic bag (not biodegradable). Then take it to the greenbins in the recycling room at the end of the hall off the lobby on the first floor.
Where do I put my HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE (HHW)?
Keep items like dead batteries, expired medication old paint, paint thinners, aerosol cans, nail polish remover, and CFL light bulbs. When the green committee has an HHW drop-off day, bring it to our table in the lobby.
Where do I put my ELECTRONIC WASTE?
Put items like old and broken kettles, toasters, irons, cell phones, cameras, etc. in the lime greenbox in the far corner of the recycling room at the end of the hall off the lobby on the first floor. If you’re going to be near a Best Buy store, you can drop it off there, too!
What do I do with?
Old Clothes and Household Goods
Value Village – 924 Queen St E @ Logan
1319 Bloor St W @ Lansdowne
605 Rogers Rd @ Keele
2119 Danforth Rd @ Woodbine…and more! See Value Village for store locations
Salvation Army Donations – bins are located at the Toronto Headquarters, 2 Overlea Blvd @ Millwood and
2300 Bridletowne Circle @ Warden and Finch
Thrift Stores are at
252 Parliament St @ Dundas St E
60 Overlea Blvd @ Don Mills
665 St. Clair Ave W @ Christie
and others. Check Salvation Army for more.
OFCP Donation Boxes – There are 2 blue boxes for used clothing collected by the Ontario Federation for Cerebral Palsy, both on Bishop Tutu: in the back yard at Harbourside Co-op (20 Bishop Tutu) and in the blue cage behind Arcadia Co-op
H&M – the retailer takes not only your old clothes, but torn, stained, unwearable clothes and fabric of any kind to reuse and recycle. BONUS: You get, at minimum, $5 off your next purchase of $30 or more in any department: Ladies’, Men’s, Kids’, Beauty or Home! Toronto locations include 429 Queen St W @ Spadina, 15 Bloor St W @ Bloor the Eaton Centre, Dufferin Mall, Yorkdale Mall and Fairview Mall.
Electronics
Best Buy will take everything from computer equipment, CD and DVD players, clock radios and cameras to batteries, phone and power cords, computer cables and cell phones.
Toronto Eaton Centre (Bay & Dundas)
10 Old Stock Yards Rd (Keele & St. Clair)
2400 Yonge St @ Eglinton
147 Laird Dr @ Eglinton
167 North Queen St across from Sherway Gardens
Hardware and appliances
Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore gratefully accepts gently used furniture, building materials, appliances, cabinetry, sinks, countertops, household, and décor items.
3 Carlaw Ave @ Lakeshore Blvd E
155 Bermondsey Rd south of Eglinton E
1120 Caledonia Rd north of Lawrence W
When in doubt
When in doubt, consult the convenient online Waste Wizard Tool
Just type in the name of the item in question, click, and you’ll instantly find out whether it goes in the garbage, the blue bin or the green bin.
For more information about recycling in apartment buildings go to the City of Toronto Recycling page