With building expenses covered for the first time since opening, the board of Knick Knack Nook, Bowen Island's re-use-Store, has been able to consider how we might return our community's generosity by donating funds to an Island project.
The Nook was founded out of a deep concern to save valuable materials from the landfill; from this original impetus we created a mission statement fostering environmental responsibility. This philosophy has led to our commitment to contribute to future Island initiatives in resource recovery.
As we began to explore future possibilities we realized that this is an area of enormous complexity. There are many options for processing which may involve the municipality as well as several interested community businesses and organizations. There are also issues particular to Bowen such as concern for our unique environment, availability of organic materials, land and funding, expense of taking waste to the mainland, a need for locally produced soil.
Needing comprehensive information before funding any resource management process, we engaged Morganne Keplar, ReSource-Full Habitats, to do a feasibility study for us. She has extensive knowledge of resource recovery systems, a commitment to waste management on Bowen and knowledge of Bowen Island community interactions.
Some weeks later the scope of this report was expanded in response to a need for a more comprehensive overview as expressed by Bowen Island Municipality CAO Brent Mahood. As the municipality does not have funds available for such a project, it was decided that the Nook form a collaborative role with BIM by funding this report. This report will contain an examination of current resource management issues, organic processes, stakeholders and strategies, and options for future resource recovery enterprises on Bowen.
When the board receives Keplar's report we will carefully review options and decide on next steps. They will include consultation with Mahood followed by a preliminary meeting with BIM, Bowen Waste Management, Zero Waste, Bowen Island Recycling Depot.
Since requesting the report on waste retrieval on Bowen, we have learned that by December 2012, food waste and yard trimmings will no longer be allowed in our garbage. This knowledge has intensified our interest to collaborate in creating the best possible resource recovery system.
Allene Drake, Katherine Lawrence,
Diane Marshall
On behalf of Board of Knick Knack Nook
