Landfill telling residents to take it or leave it

Roseridge Landfill Manager Gerard Duffy examines one of the bikes available for the taking at the facilities take-a-bike / leave-a-bike program. In July, the Landfill will expand to other items.

by Stephen Dafoe

With summer officially a week away, bikes are becoming a more common sight on Morinville roads and sidewalks. But not everyone can afford a new bike, which is where Roseridge Landfill has stepped in to lend a hand.

The Landfill, which serves Sturgeon County and the municipalities within it, recently established its Take-A-Bike / Leave-A-Bike program.

Landfill Manager Gerard Duffy told Morinville News residents with usable bikes can take them to the landfill, where staff place them for others to take, should they need a bike.

“They are put into our bike racks [and] staff review bikes to ensure brakes and steering are ok,” Duffy said, noting Landfill staff usually spend 1-3 hours a week sorting, taking out older bikes, and cycling through newer bikes.”

Bikes that are not suitable for reuse are moved to the Landfill’s scrap metal section.

The rest are available for residents to come in and take at their discretion; however, only residents of the landfill area can use the program.

Broader program coming in July

Following on the success of the bike program, the Town of Morinville’s volunteer-run Reuse It Or “Loose” It event, and Duffy’s experiences elsewhere, Roseridge will be starting a take-it-or-leave-it program in early July.

Residents will be able to drop off good useable items and others can take what they see value in.

“We’ve built a pad inside the paint shop so that everything will be sheltered,” Duffy said. “We’ll be able to manage what people are bringing in.”

Duffy said with all the other landfills he’s worked with in the past, there has been a take-it-or-leave-it program. “The residents love it,” he said. “Why not bring it here. [It] will take a minimal amount of hours. At the end of the day, you go in and see what you’ve got, and if it is scrap, you take it out.”

Duffy s expecting the program to start after Canada Day.

“Sometimes people have things that they are not sure what to do with them,” Duffy said. “Why not have an option for them – a reusable option.”

Roseridge Landfill is open Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. until 4:45 p.m. They are located on Range Road 251 just east of Morinville.

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10 Comments

  1. Should have where people can retrieve used wheelchair ramps & such like that as long as they are sound… I am looking for a used or recycled aluminum wheelchair ramp & they are hard to come by…

  2. I’m glad. When I was a kid we were so poor we lived off the good stuff we found at the dump. Thank goodness there were no silly rules then about not being able to take stuff from the dump. We reused and recycled before it was cool! ?

  3. Airdrie had a awesome system at their dump/recycle area – they had a baby barn located beside their recycle building that was filled with book shelves. People could leave and take books as they wanted. That may be a nice addition to the large front “lawn” at our landfill site. Is the town able to explore having another recycle/composting area like they had over by the ball diamonds? I believe Airdrie ran theirs in addition to the blue boxes, but I don’t recall. When you have a large lawn, it was nice having a place to take the excess grass and branches and kept them out of the landfill site.

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