Zero Waste

Upcoming Events

October 1, 2025, 3 – 6 p.m., Brennan Park – Free Bike Tune-up

Come to Brennan Park Recreation Centre and get your bike tuned up and ready for the season. We will be located along the Corridor Trail and will be on site from 3 – 6 p.m.

 

If your bike needs a tweak to get it back into top condition, this is a great chance to have it done.

 

 

October 2, 2025, 3 – 6 p.m., Brennan Park – Free Bike Tune-up

Come to Brennan Park Recreation Centre and get your bike tuned up and ready for the season. We will be located along the Corridor Trail and will be on site from 3 – 6 p.m..

 

If your bike needs a tweak to get it back into top condition, this is a great chance to have it done.

 

 

You don't need any experience. Everyone welcome. All tools and supplies will be provided.

 

Registration is required for this workshop; spots are limited. This is a free event – please only sign up if you can definitely make it.

Register on EventBrite

When: October 01 - 07:00pm - 08:00pm

Where: Squamish Adventure Centre

Join us at the Adventure Centre to kick off Circular Economy Month with a free screening of Patagonia’s feature film, The Shitthropocene (2024)!

The film takes a bold, satirical approach to consumer culture driving our current environmental crisis, exploring the psychology behind our endless desire for more. It asks the questions: when will we ever have enough? At what cost?

Snacks + refreshments will be provided. Bring a friend and your curiosity and leave with a fresh perspective.

Attendance is limited to 40 people. Please register on EventBrite.

Date: October 1, 2025
Time: 7 p.m. (doors open at 6.45 p.m.)
Runtime: 46 Minutes
Location: Adventure Centre
Admission: FREE

This event is part of the District’s Circular Economy and Zero Waste Event Series.

When: October 04 - 10:00am - 03:00pm

Where: Brennan Park Recreation Centre

Do you have some pre-loved clothes and books you no longer need? Or are you looking for used gems? This swap is the perfect opportunity to keep items in our community instead of discarding them. There will be clothes, shoes, and accessories for men, women, and teens, as well as adult books. 

Don’t have anything to bring? No problem! Come and see what treasures you can find.

Drop-off on October 4, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

 

*** No earlier drop-off possible due to Brennan Park renovations ***

All leftover items will be donated to local charities and Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver.

Questions or are interested in volunteering? Email [email protected]

When: October 18 - 10:00am - 02:00pm

Where: The 55 Activity Centre

A Repair Café event is designed for the community to meet and bring their broken possessions to be fixed by a group of local volunteers. It’s about repairing together, learning from each other, and promoting a more sustainable approach to our belongings. Plus, it’s free of charge!

Need something fixed? This Repair Café will have fixers who can help with the following areas/items: 

  • Sewing and mending clothes, patching holes and tears, sewing on buttons, and restitching
  • Bike repairs and tune-ups
  • Ski and snowboard waxing
  • Furniture repairs
  • Small appliances and electronics
  • Eyecare fixes
  • Jewelry repairs
  • General carpentry

Please ensure that the clothes you bring are clean. Our sewing team is always in high demand, so we kindly ask that you limit yourself to three textile or clothing items. Please be reminded that you are expected to stay while your item is being repaired.

Interested in Volunteering? Contact [email protected]

When: October 25 - 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Where: Brennan Park Recreation Centre

Join us for the Kids Clothing, Toy, and Book Swap. The perfect time to donate some clothes, purge those outgrown toys and add a few more books to the collection.

Don’t have anything to bring? No problem! Come and see what treasures you can find.

Kids' Clothing, Toy, and Book Swap Guidelines:

  • All items must be clean and in good condition
  • When you drop off items, please help us sort them
  • Avoid bringing large amounts of bagged items

Drop-off items same day only (October 25) between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

 

*** No earlier drop-off possible due to Brennan Park renovations ***

 

All leftover items will be donated to local charities and Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver.


Questions or are interested in volunteering? Email [email protected]

The District of Squamish aims to decrease the diversion of waste from landfill to 80%, and reduce per capita landfill waste to 300 kg.

View the Zero Waste Strategy.

Waste Diversion

Squamish has many waste diversion options, including:

  • multiple drop-off locations for recycling and organics
  • residential recycling and organics collection for all single-family and townhouses
  • a free paint recycling location
  • a drop off for reusable construction materials at Squamish ReBuild
  • several extremely active non-governmental volunteer-based groups

How you can help

Practice the habit of bringing your own bag, cup, straw or other commonly used item to reduce waste in our community.

Composting food scraps, paper towels, dryer lint, coffee filters and other organic materials is the single most effective way to reduce your garbage waste. If you are unsure as to what materials can go in your organics tote, enter the item in our Waste Wizard lookup tool to find out where to recycle or dispose of it.

Cardboard, mixed paper, plastic containers, and metal such as tin and aluminum cans can all be recycled in the curbside recycling program. Styrofoam and plastic bags, overwrap/film and any glass that cannot be returned for a refund can be dropped off at the GFL Recycling Depot or the Squamish Landfill. 

Buy bulk when possible and look for “pure” packaging products such as glass.

Keep bins for recycling, organics, glass, bottles and cans where you are likely to use it most, and consider setting up small containers in other rooms of your home, such as the washroom.

Previously loved goods are an excellent way to cut down on cost and packaging.

You can make a surprising number of things yourself (and save some serious cash at the same time). From bread to clothing to laundry soap, for recipes check out the Living Green website.

Read about recycling and going waste-free to learn about what others are doing. Watch The Story of Stuff, an eye opening animated, short film about the cycle of waste and consumerism. There is a lot of information out there that can help you reduce your garbage.

Writing a letter or calling a company goes a long way.

 

Waste hierachy. Bottom level (least perferred, least impact:) Dispose - send to landfill. Second level - Recover - recover energy from waste, third level - recycle - recycle waste into new products, fourth level - reuse. reuse material as many times as possible. top level (most preferred, most impact) avoid/reduce - reduce total waste created in thh first place.

Waste by the Numbers

  • 480 kg - the average of garbage disposed of per person in the District of Squamish in 2023. 
  • 350 kg - the target set by BC's Ministry of Environment of garbage disposed of per person per year by 2020. 
  • 505 kg - the provincial average of garbage disposed of per person in 2018.
  • 525 kg - the average of garbage disposed of per person in the Squamish Lillooet Regional District in 2012.

 

Squamish waste produced per capita per year. 2004=932kg, 2008=1111kg, residential curbside collection introduced 2009, 979kg, 213=688kg, residential organics collection introduced 2015 634kg, 2019 542kg, 2023=480kg

Waste composition October 2020: 29.8% organics, 20.6% paper, 18.3% paper, 3.9% building material, 3.5% glass, 3.5% textiles, 3.1% garbage.

In August 2020, the District of Squamish conducted a waste audit of what is being thrown in the garbage. The above chart represents the breakdown of the overall findings. View the full waste composition report here.

Some of the key findings from the Waste Composition Report - 

  • From Curbside Residential Collection, over 30% of the garbage is compostable. More than 10% of the garbage is avoidable Food Waste. 
  • Compostable Paper and Avoidable Food Waste are the 2 largest categories of material in Commercial Waste. They represent over 30% of the material in the garbage. 
  • 21% of the material in Multi-Family Garbage could be recycled at a Drop Off Depot, and 31% could be composted. 
  • Over 40% of the waste from the Construction and Demolition sector is Wood. 

Resources


Waste Reduction

http://youtu.be/Mh-gFOoTYrc 

You Can Live Without Producing Trash

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYDQcBQUDpw

Archive

Zero Waste Strategy 2016

Waste Composition Reports