Donations diverted from landfill at 2nd annual Green Expo

Green Expo diverts waste from Windsor landfill Donated and reusable household items piled up in trucks outside the Windsor Family Credit Union Centre Saturday afternoon.

Donated and reusable household items piled up in trucks outside the Windsor Family Credit Union Centre Saturday afternoon in an effort to divert goods from the landfill.

The recycling depot, a part of the second annual YQG Green Expo, was led by Anne-Marie Albidone, the manager of Environmental Services for the City of Windsor.

“So it's a pop-up drop-off area for people to bring items that are reusable or recyclable that we can then give to somebody else,” Albidone told CTV News.

Residents arrived in the centre’s parking lot with cars filled with items they no longer wanted. Albidone and a team of volunteers weighed each donation and packed it onto a moving truck.

Albidone said donations included shoes, clothes, expired medication, and electronics.

Local organizations will now re-furbish and donate the items to those in the community who otherwise would not be able to access them, she said.

“The area here, Windsor-Essex County, we have one landfill that's operational right now. At the moment, we're looking at that landfill being full around the year 2040,” Albidone said.

Opening a new landfill will take about 15 years and put additional strain on taxpayers, she said.

“So, we want to do everything we can to keep whatever we can out of that landfill, to extend that life as much as possible,” she said.

Inside the Green Expo, organizations provided resources and background on changes residents could make to have a more environmentally focused approach.

“It's kind of like your home show, but specifically in the green environment,” said Elizabeth Elias-Hernandez, the founder of YQG Green.

Elias-Hernandez said the idea was spurred from experience working through flooding with a restoration company.

” I saw all these things that could have been cleaned and restored thrown out on the street. So, you know, we're hurting the environment more and then more disasters are happening because of that,” Elias-Hernandez said.

As for those who still have items they would like to get rid of, Albdione said in addition to local charities, the public drop-off depot remains open.