Feb 24 - Victoria ramps up zero-waste initiatives

Good morning !

Victoria is entering the next phase of its zero-waste initiative, with new steps planned until 2027. One of the challenges, according to the city, is getting citizens on board with reducing single-use plastic and food waste. I’m wondering if our readers practice any zero-waste methods at home. Feel free to share any tips that have helped you reduce waste—we may share these tips in a future story.

— Robyn

Today’s approx. read time: 5 minutes

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: ⛅ 11 / 7

Tomorrow: 🌧️ 10 / 3

Day after: 🌧️ 8 / 0

7-day forecast

NEWS

Victoria to expand waste pickups and public recycling

Council on Thursday unanimously approved the next stage of the Zero Waste Victoria program, with the aim to keep an additional 5,700 tonnes of waste out of landfills each year.

Council first approved the program in 2020, to cut the city’s landfill waste in half by 2040. All actions for the first phase of the plan have been implemented, with 15% of the 2040 waste reduction target reached, according to the city. The next phase is expected to help increase the reduction to 40% of the target.

Phase 2 kicks off this year and is slated to be complete by 2027. One of the new measures to be implemented in this phase is waste pickup for apartment buildings, including recycling and organic waste. This new measure will see around 40K households living in multi-unit buildings included in this service.

Read Robyn Bell’s full story here.

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

Downtown demo today. Traffic disruptions. CCTV is to be deployed from 1-3pm. [VicPD]

Missing Saanich teen, 18, found safe.

Limited vehicle space on BC Ferries today and tomorrow for Victoria-Vancouver sailings. Some sailings are cancelled today due to rudder issues on Queen of New Westminster.

Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.

NEWS

Check out Sidney’s new bike repair kit—a first for BC

There’s something novel on the shelves in the bicycle section of Sidney’s public library–and it’s not a book.

As part of the town’s push to get more people out of their cars and onto bikes, the town has placed four bicycle repair kits in the library, available for loan for free for up to a week.

The idea, with spring in mind, is some people may be avoiding getting their bikes ready to ride because it can cost a few bucks for a tuneup, and that can be prohibitive.

“The library can give out these tools that people might not be able to afford or might not think to buy for themselves,” Kira Gill-Maher, a climate action & policy planner with the Town of Sidney, and the project’s manager, tells Capital Daily.

Inspired by the CRD’s Climate Action To-Go Kit, which is offered to residents to check for home heating loss, the bike repair rides in tandem with a newly built bicycle repair station outside the library, which was selected to house the program because of its popularity as a community hub that lends things out to people for free, “and so it’s a pretty natural alignment,” Gill-Maher says.

Read Mark Brennae’s full story here.

⭐️ Capital Picks

🍺 Beacon Brewing to run a food truck outside its brewery on select occasions beginning in April. [Victoria News]  

💪 Why get a body composition scan? A Dexa scan gives you a complete picture of your bone density, lean mass, and fat tissue and helps identify health risks. Now at Tall Tree Health.*

🐶 Half off on pet adoptions fees at BC SPCA until Mar. 3.

🏈 Westshore Rebels ID camp registration today. [4-6pm]

*Sponsored Listing

🗞️ In Other News

UVic women make basketball semifinals with upset win
With its 8th straight win, the now-healthy team has turned around a roller-coaster season that started 0-7. As a lowly #10 playoff seed they beat #7 Lethbridge and then shocked #2 UBC 66-63. They and the men, ranked 1st in Canada, both play today for a chance at tomorrow's Canada West final.

‘School-aged’ youth arrested in alleged James Bay knife robbery
The putative victim said they were skateboarding home around 8pm Tue. night when six young people approached and one pointed a knife and took belongings. Police claim they found the group, arrested one, and set a court date. [VicPD]

Westshore Rebels add familiar local face as new head coach
UBC and SFU alumni Mark Townsend managed the Mount Doug Rams football program for 19 seasons and most recently coached at a Hawaii high school. He replaces Dexter Janke, who led Westshore to a BCFC title and a close Canadian Bowl loss but was hired away by Toronto’s York University. [Rebels]

🗓️ Things to do

👕 Fashion Splash Designer Market: Shop clothing and accessories from local designers as well as vintage items at the Da Vinci Centre. Today 10am-5pm, tomorrow 11am-4pm.

🎤 Grateful Dead tribute: Canadian Beauty will perform the music of the iconic rock band at Victoria Event Centre, today at 8:30pm.

🧀 Cheese and wine pairing party: Learn about how to enhance cheese with the right wine pairing at this tasty workshop at L’Apéro Wine and Cheese Bistro, today from 2-4pm.

👗 ReLove Market: Shop vintage and secondhand clothing and accessories at Victoria International Marina. Today and tomorrow, 11am-5pm. 

🎹 Gershwin in Havana: Pianist Pablo Cardenas joins vocalists Stephanie Greaves and Leif Bradshaw to play Gershwin’s music at Hermann’s today. Doors 5:30pm, show 7pm.

🛍️ Monterey Rummage Sale: Shop for secondhand treasures at Monterey Rec Centre, today 9am-1pm.

🪦 BC Black History cemetery tour: Learn about Victoria’s Black pioneers at this history walk through Ross Bay Cemetery, tomorrow at 1pm.

👀 In Case You Missed It

Friday’s headlines: Ex-cop claims he’s a VicPD ‘scapegoat’; UVic students sound asbestos alarm; Salt Spring may move govt. offices; Rifflandia is moving; and more. [Feb. 23]

Provincial budget key takeaways. [Capital Daily] 

Saanich shaping its road safety plan. [Capital Daily] 

Canucks’ Arshdeep Bains becomes NHL’s fourth Punjabi player. Duncan's Robin Bawa was the first. [CHEK]

Ice Cube is coming to Victoria: The rapper and actor is bringing his Straight Into Canada tour to the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Apr. 23.

That’s it!

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