Township of Stone Mills celebrated for recycling program

Guelph, Ontario - October 22, 2004 - While Torontonians wrangle over their garbage woes, a small group of volunteers in rural Ontario decided to save their landfill with an innovative recycling project - an initiative that has earned the group a prestigious award.

The Erinsville Recycling Program is the winner of the Outstanding Volunteerism and/or Partnership in the Voluntary Sector award. It is one of seven groups that received an award at the 6th annual Awards of Rural Excellence on Oct. 18, 2004.

The awards hosted by the Foundation for Rural Living (FRL) - recognize and honour rural communities, organizations and groups who, through programs, projects and initiatives act on their vision of a better rural Ontario.

With the prospect of losing the community's landfill site at an estimated cost of $100,000, citizens from the ward of Sheffield (with a population of approx. 600) convinced the municipality and local citizens to participate in a volunteer recycling program. Today the Erinsville Recycling Program is still going strong with over 37,000,000 pounds of garbage diverted from landfill.

"That represents a total saving of $175,000 to $210,000 for the municipality and another 10 to 12 years of life for the landfill," said a proud Tom Weir, co-ordinator of the Erinsville recycling program.

Still, it took education and some creative manoeuvring to make the project a sustainable option that attracted participation, recalls Weir. "I think in the end people saw the environmental benefits (of saving the landfill) as well as the financial savings, he added. "We've even made money for the township by finding customers willing to purchase recyclable material like corrugated cardboard.

It's been over ten years since the program started and now recycling is firmly entrenched in the community. Each Saturday morning, a group of volunteers gather at the recycling depot to meet with friends and members of the community who come to drop off their recyclable products.

"It's a meeting place and chance to catch up on the news, like the old barber's shop," Weir concluded.

For more information:
Contact Thomas G. Weir co-ordinator of the Erinsville recycling program at 613-379-2158
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The winners in the remaining six categories are:

• Winner of the Outstanding Partnership with Business Award: Frontier College's Labourer Teacher Program, Toronto
  
• Winner Outstanding Rural Youth Achievement: Community Futures of North & Central Hastings and South Algonquin's Business Builders Program, Bancroft
  
• Winner Excellence in Formal Co-operative Models: The Progressive Pork Producers Co-operative Limited, Breslau
  
• Winner Excellence in Community Leadership: The R.E.S.P.E.C.T (Resources, Empowerment, Safety, Prevention, Education, Community building and Training), North Bay
  
• Winner Excellence in Economic Development: Trent Hills Economic Development Committee, Municipality of Trent Hills
  
• Winner Outstanding Philanthropic Action: The Bruce Grey Public Education Foundation, Oliphant.
  

Proud sponsors of the 2004 Awards of Rural Excellence program are Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont Company and founding sponsor, The Co-operators, the Province of Ontario - Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Union Gas and The Ontario Rural Council.

The awards were held at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in London, Ontario on Oct. 18, 2004.

For more information please contact
Joanne Peach, communications specialist
Foundation for Rural Living
Tel: 519 826 3815
Email: frl_communications@on.aibn.com

Background: The Awards of Rural Excellence
The Foundation for Rural Living's (FRL) Awards of Rural Excellence program began in 1999 to recognize the excellence emerging from rural Ontario and to promote those initiatives to other organizations throughout the province. Contribution to community and a view toward enhancing and sustaining the future are the cornerstones of the awards criteria. Enterprises being recognized with each award must take place in rural Ontario. "Rural" includes communities with a population under 50,000. Amalgamated municipalities of small towns where the population may exceed 50,000 are also eligible. Proud sponsors of the 2004 Awards of Rural Excellence program are Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont Company and founding sponsor, The Co-operators, the Province of Ontario - Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Union Gas and The Ontario Rural Council.

The Foundation for Rural Living
FRL was founded in 1979 as a non-profit, registered charity. Our mission is to build sustainable rural capacity and enhance the quality of life for rural citizens through the growth and development of community investment in the form of philanthropy, citizenship and collaboration. Various programs and partnership endeavours aim to advance the role and interests of the charitable sector for the benefit of rural communities.

The foundation has initiated and partnered in key programs including The Ontario Rural Council and the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program. During the ice storm of 1998 we established the Ontario Rural Relief Fund, which raised over $500,000 for rural communities affected by this disaster.

Disclaimer: The Foundation for Rural Living does not endorse or maintain the information contained within the above article, with the exception of news releases from the foundation itself. In all other instances, any questions reagarding the information contained therein should be referred to the author of the news article listed as the source.