2022 Cart Wizard results
Great job sorting Airdrie! During 2022, almost 10,000 houses were visited in Airdrie with the following receiving Cart Wizard stars:
Green carts (organics) | Blue carts (recycling) |
94% |
47% |
4625 stickers |
2348 stickers |
Cart wizard sticker program
Throughout the summer, staff complete visual assessments of green (organics) and blue (recycling) carts for contamination and materials that don't belong. Residents either:
- Receive a 'cart wizard' sticker for correctly sorting and placing their cart(s) OR
- Receive an educational orange 'oops tag' if additional assistance is needed to understand how to use the green and blue carts
Reasons to properly sort your carts:
- In 2021, recycling contamination cost Airdrie $22,566.66
- Sorting properly saves money, reduces truck emissions and reduces the likelihood of injury to workers
Common incorrect items in carts
Incorrect items found in green carts include:
-
Plastic (i.e. dog waste bags, garbage bags).
Bags need to be certified compostable, paper or newspaper. Plastic is NOT allowed in the green cart.
- Food in packaging (i.e. berries in a container, chips in bags).
Remove all packaging before placing food in your organics cart. Rinse and recycle if possible.
- Coffee/soft drink cups. Empty and clean cups go in your blue cart. Lids and plastic straws are garbage.
Incorrect items found in blue carts include:
- Multi-materials. These are two or more items that can't be separated or plastics that can't be identified (i.e. shipping envelopes made of bubble wrap/paper, Pringles© cans, plastic toys and cutlery). If items cannot be separated, please place in your garbage.
- Loose, stretchy plastic. Plastics that stretch (i.e. grocery bags, pop case overwrap) need to be bundled and tied into one stretchy bag.
- Bagged recycling. All recycling must be loose in your blue cart except for stretchy plastic and shredded paper.
Use our what goes where tool