Recycling and Rinsing in Canada

I know. Recycling in Canada, not exactly a hot topic. But I feel my marveling needs to be shared.

I have marveled about Canada before in a post a while back. How, way out in the middle of no where, they had single stream recycling pick up... in the middle of the night. Yes they still do it, and I still find it fascinating.

On a recent return to the same "in the middle of no where" place on the very, very tip of Gaspe Peninsula, I was once again surprised by the effort the government makes to promote recycling.

I took a day trip to Forillon National Park which is not only famous for its spectacular topography, but is said to be the beginning of the Appalachian Ridge as it rises out of the ocean. And spectacular it is.

There are lots of scenic vantage points and areas to park and picnic. As an aside, it was wonderful to see so many families taking their picnicking seriously, bottle of wine and all.

So when you are finished with that bottle of wine, what does any good Canadian citizen do?  Why, recycle it of course.  And what does the good Canadian government ask the recycler to do?  Why, rinse it out of course. To top if off, you aren't left scratching your head trying to figure out just how you are going to "rinse it out". Miracles of miracles, a deep sink is provided, out in the middle of no where.

I suppose water conservationists may question this practice, asking if it is really necessary, or how much does food waste really contaminate the recycling process? Some recycling processes really don't need even sticky peanut butter removed. But the other reason might be keeping the small and big varmints at bay. (This includes bears.) Whatever the reason, I was impressed with this recycling set-up...out in the middle of no where.

Gaspe Peninsula, still part of Quebec, is a little bigger than Massachusetts with a population of less than 100,000. The biggest city is Gaspe, with a whopping population of over 14,000.  It is so spectacular that the National Geographic rated Gaspe as one of the top 20 places in the entire world to see in 2011. Not to shabby, eh?

Forillon National Park was a joy to experience. I applaud Canada for its efforts, even down to the sink to rinse out your containers. If you are looking for a unique, very remote (yes, way the heck up there), consider the Forillon area in Gaspe. You won't be disappointed.