June 1, 2012, Milton, ON — The Canadian Nursery Landscape Association's annual National Plastics Recycling Event is back and bigger than ever.
Between June 22 and July 1, gardeners will be encouraged to bring clean, dry garden plastics to their local garden centre depot. More than 50 CNLA garden retail members in eight provinces will act as plastic collection points for this year's event.
“Consumers are looking for ways to recycle their plastics after doing their part for the environment by planting tree’s, shrubs and flowers each season – by promoting plastics recycling opportunities at local independent garden centres, we are showing the public that our members truly care about the environment and servicing their customers”, said Rebecca Doutre, retail priorities manager for the CNLA.
The plastics recycling program launched in 2009 as a Landscape Ontario program. At the time, consumers in Ontario were asking for ways to recycle their garden plastics. Landscape Ontario staff took the initiative to launch a recycling program at their office in Milton,Ont., working out the kinks before launching the program to their members.
In 2010, the program went national, offering six depot locations from coast to coast. CNLA garden centre members have taken on responsibility for collecting the plastics, helping to drive traffic back to their stores. Since the program's launch, a number of recycling partners across Canada have also come on board to help with collections.
Last year, more than 40 garden centres in six provinces participated, collecting 63,150 pounds of plastic.
“Participating in the National Plastics Recycling Event has helped bring awareness to our customers and staff about the importance of good stewardship. The event encouraged our customers to return to our garden centre during the week which was great for increased sales,” said Anthony O’Neill, with O'Neill's Gardenland in Spaniards Bay, Nfld., and chair of Garden Centres Canada.
The CNLA has put together an online tool kit for participating garden retailers to help them run a successful event. The kit includes free PDF promotional material templates branded with provincial association logo’s, press release templates, and an FAQ for hosting a successful plastics recycling program.
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