Bring the Rs Home: 3R Ambassador Program

There are a lot more than three though, there’s also repair, repurpose, revitalize, regift…you get the idea.

But the City of Toronto’s 3R Ambassador Program stands for Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. It’s both an education and volunteer program designed specifically for residents of multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs). In two sessions, Solid Waste Management Services staff run through some waste management items specific to Toronto’s services and promote a number of resources available to the public, like Toronto’s Waste Wizard site, which is also a downloadable app that is a quick search tool with information on how to properly sort and dispose of over 2,500 items.

Before tossing that old lipstick out, if you pull out the Waste Wizard app you might be surprised to find out that it shouldn’t go in the trash or the blue bin—it’s household hazardous waste (HHW) that should be disposed of at a Community Environment Day location near you. Or your property manager can schedule a free pick-up through the City’s Toxic Taxi service, as long there is more than 10 kg of HHW (but less than 50 kg of HHW). Not enough old lipsticks for a Toxic Taxi pick-up? That’s why at The Tower began to periodically collect the specific types of HHW eligible for a pick-up from the whole building. In March 2024 residents contributed approximately 12kg of old batteries, light bulbs and nail polishes.