{"id":94304,"date":"2026-07-23T01:15:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T04:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/proposed-curbside-giveaway-weekend-event-for-bulk-items-deferred-cbrm-says\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T01:15:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T04:15:57","slug":"proposed-curbside-giveaway-weekend-event-for-bulk-items-deferred-cbrm-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/proposed-curbside-giveaway-weekend-event-for-bulk-items-deferred-cbrm-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed curbside giveaway weekend event for bulk items deferred, CBRM says"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Article content Gordon MacDonald, CBRM District 1 councillor: \u201cI think it\u2019s a good idea. I think the concept is great. But just not this year \u2014 maybe next year.\u201d Photo by IAN NATHANSON\/CAPE BRETON POST FILEArticle content\u2018REUSE, DIVERT, RECYCLE\u2019Article contentWhen MacNeil first brought forth the idea back in May, the District 8 councillor said the intention to hold a formally organized \u201ccurbside giveaway\u201d was sparked from numerous calls he received after the municipality\u2019s changeover to the call-to-haul program.Article content\u201cWhen we decided to make the change from heavy garbage to call to haul, one of the recurring phone calls I got was the aspect of being able to reuse, divert and recycle people\u2019s old materials,\u201d he told council at the time.Article content\u201cI\u2019ve heard from so many people in District 8 that really look forward to this time of year (for heavy garbage), and not for the garbage going to the transfer centre, but to be able to reuse and repurpose things.\u201dArticle contentWhile heavy garbage collections were considered for years a popular way for some CBRM residents to seek out potentially reusable furniture finds, the cost to handle last year\u2019s pickup spiked to $1 million.Article contentLooking to help keep the cash-strapped municipality on budget, the CBRM\u2019s public works department opted to change over to a call-to-haul program \u2014 popular in many municipalities outside of Cape Breton but a first for the CBRM.Article contentArticle contentSTAFF RECOMMENDATIONArticle contentAt a July 2 council meeting, municipal clerk Christa Dicks brought back a staff recommendation for MacNeil\u2019s idea.Article content\u201cThe intent of the pilot is to support waste diversion and reuse by encouraging residents to place reusable household items at the curb, so that other residents may collect them at no cost,\u201d she told council. \u201cIt is important to note that this is not proposed as a heavy garbage program, and no special municipal collection stream is proposed.Article content\u201cThe report review comparator programs in the Halifax Regional Municipality, the City of Ottawa, and the City of Markham (in Ontario). These programs generally rely on clear public education, defined cleanup deadlines, residents marking items as free and, in some cases, optional mapping or promotional tools for the CBRM.Article content Steven MacNeil, CBRM District 8 councillor: \u201cHaving the program started in 2027 would be something I\u2019d be happy to support.\u201d Photo by IAN NATHANSON\/CAPE BRETON POST FILEArticle content\u201cThe proposed pilot would be municipality-wide, held over a Saturday and Sunday in fall 2026, with residents able to place reusable items curbside beginning Friday evening. Any remaining items would need to be removed by 7 p.m. on Sunday. Communications would be essential to the success of the pilot.\u201dArticle contentArticle content\u2018JUST NOT THIS YEAR\u2019Article contentWhen the curbside giveaway weekend was first proposed in May, some councillors had initial doubts whether residents might confuse the curbside giveaway weekend with an unintended return to heavy garbage pickup.Article contentMore doubts were raised on July 2, when the staff suggestion of how the curbside giveaway weekend idea would play out, given how residents are dealing with the call-to-haul program, according to District 1\u2019s Gordon MacDonald.Article content\u201cI think it\u2019s a good idea. I think the concept is great,\u201d MacDonald told council of the curbside giveaway weekend proposal. \u201cBut just not this year \u2014 maybe next year, because (the new) call-to-haul (program) will be much better managed.\u201dArticle contentHearing the responses from his fellow councillors, MacNeil conceded to having the idea deferred to 2027.Article content\u201cI would like to trust our residents to be able to do this program, to be able to bring the garbage to curb, have it not be picked up and brought back,\u201d MacNeil said. \u201cI do believe that in them, and that we would be able to do that, and anything we can do to divert garbage away from our landfills would be a huge benefit.Article content\u201cBut that being said, we are still experiencing some growing pains in solid waste, and having the program started in 2027 would be something I\u2019d be happy to support.\u201dArticle content<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article content Gordon MacDonald, CBRM District 1 councillor: \u201cI think it\u2019s a good idea. I think the concept is great. But just not this year \u2014 maybe next year.\u201d Photo by IAN NATHANSON\/CAPE BRETON POST FILEArticle content\u2018REUSE, DIVERT, RECYCLE\u2019Article contentWhen MacNeil first brought forth the idea back in May, the District 8 councillor said the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":94305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118,590,1],"tags":[116,589],"class_list":["post-94304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indigenous","category-newfoundland-and-labrador","category-uncategorized","tag-indigenous","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}