PERTH - The Table Community Food Centre is set to run out of garbage tags by the end of this month unless it gets some help with its garbage.
“We have done our best to reduce, reuse, recycle,” said Wendy Quarrington of The Table community food centre, during committee-of-the-whole meeting here on Tuesday, March 5. “(But) by the end of March, we will be out of tags (which) we purchased in October.”
The Table has between four to eight bags of garbage going out every two weeks.
Quarrington explained that she and fellow staffers will arrive at their Gore Street location in the morning to find garbage bags filled with food donations at the door. While any genuine effort is appreciated, sometimes they “are not feasible,” she said.
“We have to follow very strict health unit structures,” she said, when it comes to which food can be donated, and in what condition. “We try to use as little packaging as possible,” in food, she added.
They have tried other ways to cut down on their own outgoing waste, but “what we are doing within the building is not enough,” she said.
Mayor John Fenik suggested that the town could explore an adjusted or even free rate for The Table for their refuse, if they are able to get their garbage to the landfill.
“Maybe there is a non-profit policy that can be brought back,” said chief administrative officer John de Rosenroll, who added that town staff would first have to meet with The Table to see their processes and procedures.
“You do great work for us,” said deputy Mayor John Gemmell. “I am sure we will work something out.”