Zero Waste Summer Newsletter

Banff strives to be a model environmental community and we need businesses like yours to help us lead the charge.

In this newsletter you’ll receive recognition for your efforts, learn how to stay compliant with the waste bylaw, and save costs while you save the planet.

If you know others who would enjoy receiving this newsletter, please direct them to sign up at banff.ca/notify.

Congratulations to Banff's newest Zero Waste Trailblazers, Banff Mountaintop Flowers and the HI Banff Alpine Centre!

HI Banff Alpine Centre and Banff Mountaintop Flowers are the latest recipients of the Zero Waste Trailblazer Awards, a recognition for Banff businesses and institutions that go above and beyond to reduce, re-use and recycle.

HI Banff Alpine Centre?
As a hostel located on Tunnel Mountain in the heart of the national park, the HI Banff Alpine Centre considers environmental sustainability to be one of their core responsibilities. The hostel works tirelessly to minimize their footprint within their own operations while educating their guests on how to participate and be a part of the solution.

The Trailblazers Selection Committee was very impressed with the work done by the team at the HI to measure their waste footprint by conducting a waste audit and then set targets for reducing landfill garbage by implementing proper compost and recycling systems. As they depend on the participation of their guests, proper sorting bins and clear signage was instrumental to ensure it was easy to participate and that items are sorted correctly in communal kitchen areas.

Guests are also given the opportunity to join in on environmental stewardship efforts through the hostel’s organized community cleanups, where participation is rewarded with a free burger & drink. The hostel also collaborates with local community organization Banff Food Rescue to save any food that is leftover at the end of a distribution night and ensures it gets eaten by guests.

If you visit the HI Banff Alpine Centre, or other HI hostels in the area, you will see lots of engaging educational signage that outlines that organization’s ambitious goals to prioritize zero waste and sustainability. Staff who live on site also walk the talk by diverting all waste for compost and recycling in their accommodations.

HI team Remi Lambeau and Alex King

Banff Mountaintop Flowers?
Banff Mountaintop Flowers is the latest recipient of the Zero Waste Trailblazer Awards, a recognition for Banff businesses and institutions that go above and beyond to reduce, re-use and recycle.

There’s a lot to celebrate at Banff Mountaintop Flowers when it comes to moving toward zero waste and minimizing their carbon footprint. Dynamic duo Ian & Christine have cultivated a culture of sustainability which has clearly translated to their small but passionate team of florists.

The flower shop, located in Wolf & Bear Mall, took on a leadership role in helping to introduce the building’s compost program to ensure their plant scraps didn’t end up in the landfill. The team has also swapped a variety of their products to be greener including changing plastic packaging to paper, ribbon to twine, and Styrofoam for compostable agrowool floral foam.

If you order a bouquet from Banff Mountaintop Flowers, it will be covered with a certified compostable bag which can be re-used for your food scraps at home. If you need a vase, you can feel free to take one of the re-used ones available through their glass vase “bring back” program. Wondering what happens to the flowers that are just used for a single-night event? Fear not, they are often re-directed to local long-term care facilities or the hospital for others to enjoy.

In addition to waste, Banff Mountaintop Flowers reduces their carbon footprint by purchasing their flowers as locally as possible, avoiding products that are imported from far away, and making local deliveries on their super sleek cargo e-bike which also saves them costly fuel bills & time!

Zero Waste Trailblazers are selected based on 10 categories and 20 certification criteria relating to waste reduction and diversion practices, measured results, and related environmental protection initiatives. The categories are listed at banffzerowastetrail.ca/commercial. Businesses must score higher than 16 points (80%) to achieve Trailblazer status.

Is your workplace on the Zero Waste Trail? email zero.waste@banff.ca to get involved and help protect the park for future generations to come.

See how you measure up! Email zero.waste@banff.ca for a waste assessment!

Banff Mountaintop Flowers team Christine and Ian Kaufmann

Buffalo Mountain Lodge/Town of Banff Guest-Facing Kitchenette Composting Pilot

This spring, the Town of Banff and Buffalo Mountain Lodge collaborated on a Guest-Facing Kitchenette Composting Pilot, to evaluate the effectiveness of food scraps and recycling programs in hotel kitchenettes and determine barriers for guests and staff. The program began with installing composting bins in five rooms with kitchenettes. Over the course of the month the efficiency of waste sorting was recorded.

The program achieved overall success, and the Buffalo Mountain Lodge manager said his doubts turned to surprise with how well people adjusted to the food scraps program. The hotel housekeeping staff monitored the rooms and noted guests were generally complying, and bins were used correctly. It was reported reported that long-term guests performed better than short-term guests, and while some misplaced items were observed, such as coffee creamers and stir sticks, overall, the waste was properly separated.

The goal of the project was to apply what we learned from the pilot and adjust the Town of Banff’s resources accordingly so that programs can be introduced in similar contexts in other hotels. Thanks to the amazing team at Buffalo Mountain Lodge for trailblazing the way for Banff’s visitors to divert their food waste!

Are you a hotel with long-stay guests? The Town of Banff provides hotel guest facing composting kits for $5. The kits include kitchen catcher bin, sample compostable bag, and signage. Email zero.waste@Banff.ca to get started.

Food & Recycling Bylaw

It’s estimated that 65% of Banff’s waste to landfill comes from the commercial sector, and nearly 50% of that is food waste and another 15% is mixed recyclables!
The Town of Banff has passed a material ban that requires all non-residential sector entities to separate food scraps and recycling from garbage. The bylaw comes into effect October 1, 2022 with enforcement beginning January 1, 2023.

Detailed information can be found online at banff.ca/BusinessFoodWaste.

Town of Banff Waste Transfer Site Tours

Ever wondered what happens to your garbage, recycling, and compost after you drop it in a bin?

Learn what happens to your waste after you drop it in the bin. You’ll be lead through a tour of the Town’s Waste Transfer Site and Drop-Off Yard with one of our team members.

Friday, July 15
Afternoon tour: 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.
Evening tour: 5 – 6 p.m.
Town of Banff Waste Transfer Site, 160 Hawk Avenue.

Email: zero.waste@Banff.ca to register