By Sophie Kaloudas
KAWARTHA LAKES-Have you ever wondered why Fenelon Falls’ Beach Park is so welcoming and beautiful? Well, we owe so much to our volunteers who spend their time making sure that Garnet Graham Beach Park is enjoyable. Did you know that it is actually volunteers who manage the recycling at Garnet Graham Park? Without their willingness to do a dirty, smelly, thankless job, there would not be recycling at Garnet Graham Park.
Sorting recycling is important in keeping our environment clean and healthy, as City of Kawartha Lakes spokesperson Bryan Reid explains: “Diverting recyclable materials from landfills is crucial for several reasons. First, it significantly reduces the amount of waste we send to landfills, which helps conserve space and prolongs their lifespan. Second, recycling conserves natural resources by reusing materials, reducing the need for new raw materials, and minimizing habitat destruction. Ultimately, effective recycling practices contribute to a more sustainable community and promote a circular economy, where materials are reused rather than discarded. This benefits both the environment and future generations.”
While the City of Kawartha Lakes has always picked up garbage from Garnet Graham Park, for many years, municipal staff did not provide recycle bins for public use. One of the challenges in offering recycling in a public park is that many people do not sort waste, even when recycling bins are provided. Being located close to public docks, many boaters come to the park to dispose of their garbage, and often don’t think twice about putting large garbage bags into a recycle bin—because they won’t fit through the rain cap on the garbage can.
Julia Taylor recognized the importance of recycling at Garnet Graham Beach Park a few years ago. Julia, an avid environmentalist and advocate, also owns the Country Cupboard, an environmentally conscious health food store in Fenelon. (See maryboro.ca/story/julia-taylor-in-conversation/) Julia brings the same inspiration to her volunteer work within the community.
When Julia moved to Fenelon, she noticed that there was little recycling at the beach park with little signage. Julia secured 4 recycling bins, 2 donated by Rotary, and she placed them in 4 locations across the park. But because many people don’t sort their waste, to make the recycling work, Julia had to take on this unpleasant job. For the first two summers, she was doing this work, then Sharon Britton and Linda Hibbert volunteered to help her. Since City staff did not collect recycling in the park, the volunteers had to move the recycle bins out to the roadway for collection.
At first, Fenelon Falls’ recycling volunteers collected both paper and plastic recycling. However, because so many visitors to the park did not sort their waste, paper was often thrown in with other containers, and began to decompose before the volunteers were there to sort it. After trying their best to recycle paper, eventually, Julia and Sharon made the decision to remove the paper recycling bin. “All paper products will eventually decompose and break down in the garbage” Sharon explains. This made sorting a lot easier.
Though it was faster to just manage garbage and container recycling, the volunteers still dealt with massive amounts of contaminated waste, garbage, and unrecyclable materials. Sharon uses gloves, as there is often old food, glass, garbage, and containers covered in food waste. There are also wasps and flies, often the garbage and recycling are overflowing after a long weekend. Sometimes, there is so much recycling, Sharon takes it to her house and puts it at her curb, just to ensure that all the recycling gets collected and recycled. On average, she might spend upwards of an hour a week collecting and sorting all the recycling. It is not just at Garnet Graham Park that volunteers are taking public waste home to sort and properly recycle–the same challenges exist at other municipal facilities.
Sharon and Julia do not know why the recycling is not managed by the City, or why it has been left to volunteers to manage and implement recycling in the beach park. When asked, City spokesperson Bryan Reid explained, “the initiative was presented by the community members and staff worked in partnership with them to develop a community supported solution.”
It is not only recycling that is managed by the community, but also litter. The Chamber of Commerce works tirelessly to keep Fenelon Falls clean, going around town picking up garbage. It is the Chamber of Commerce who collect all the litter in Garnet Graham Park, and also around the downtown. Tourism ambassadors Lyla and Jules explain that they spend around 45 minutes every day picking up garbage in summer.
Sharon explains that since she was a child, some methods of being environmentally friendly have gone backwards. When she was young, recycling was drilled into her head.’ Children learned the three r’s in school (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) and were taught the importance of washing out containers, as well as the necessity for recycling. Sharon explains. “As citizens, we can choose to reuse or to purchase items that don’t have plastic, such as glass bottles or tins. We can also speak to manufacturers and businesses, and encourage them not to use plastic products. Seven years ago, we used plastic bags, and now as a result of citizens’ advocacy, they have been banned.”
However, one of the most useful tools in order to encourage people to recycle is simple conversation. “Many people want to recycle and help out,” Sharon explains. “Some tourists aren’t used to recycling here, as in the GTA cardboard goes together with garbage, and there is compost in other municipalities.” Lyla and Jules echo this sentiment. “Many people want to recycle, but they don’t know how.” Sharon makes the effort to talk as many people as she can, telling people what can go in the recycling, and what can’t. Every weekend, she would go through the beach park and educate people. “People were very receptive and asked questions,” she says. Sometimes, people would end up taking their garbage or recycling home so they could deal with it there.
Recently, the garbage containers in Garnet Graham Park were replaced with models that have a smaller opening, for aesthetic reasons. However, much of the waste that visitors bring to the park will not fit. The volunteers sorting the recycling and picking up litter wonder why the City would not choose a design that would accommodate more of the waste, so it does not end up being littered. The City of Kawartha Lakes explains that the decision to replace the waste containers was meant to standardize park furniture and ease the job of City Staff as they “improve ergonomics by installing side loading containers.” The rain caps are intended to reduce rainwater runoff, so that the containers are not so heavy.
Without dedicated volunteers like Sharon, Julia, and Linda sorting garbage, week after week, there would not be recycling at the beach park. We should all be grateful for their hard work and dedication. CKL spokesperson Reid added, “staff would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the volunteers at Garnet Graham Park. Their passion and commitment to recycling make a significant difference in maintaining the park’s beauty and sustainability. They are not just helping to manage waste; they’re also inspiring others in the community to adopt environmentally friendly practices.”
The City of Kawartha Lakes has announced that, “staff will outfit the new containers to support a recycling initiative to divert co-mingle waste in 2025,” or in other words, the municipality is pledging to provide recycle bins, rather than leaving this to the community. Could it be that by supplying recycling bins and managing waste for years, these selfless volunteers have inspired City staff to do better? Will City staff help sort the garbage, or will it still be volunteers working, week after week, to make recycling viable? Can everybody else help by putting your waste in the correct container so someone else doesn’t have to come back and do it for you?
This story is part of our partnership with Maryboro Lodge, The Fenelon Falls Museum.
If you want to make a donation to the museum, you can e-transfer to: [email protected] or mail a cheque to :
Maryboro Lodge Museum
Box 179
50 Oak Street
Fenelon Falls, ON
K0M 1N0
