Along with the great memories we all take away from the PNE, Chris Olsen found some great environmental products and ideas that you can use from your garden to your garage.
The corner of Sustainable Way and Green Avenue isn't the best known address at the PNE but as the home to the Fair's "Green Scene" it may be one of the most important. It's where you'll find lasting ideas for the environment.
The Bender Board on display is perfect for edging your garden. The exterior is made of coloured, recycled milk jugs. The interior is made from many plastics that aren't considered recyclable according to company spokesperson Mark Bader.
"A lot of this would probably be land-filled if we couldn't use it in the core of our product," Bader said.
The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association is promoting its "Recycle my cell" campaign. It wants people to know that when you recycle an old phone and accessories it benefits charities like the Food Bank, World Wildlife Fund, or Tree Canada.
Last year, donations totaled $500,000.
There is also the Surrey Sustainable Way house. It's done up in cartoon fashion for the kids but the message is important for all ages: little things can add up to big savings.
For example, you can recycle home electronics under B.C.'s expanded recycling program.
And did you know you can pick up old paint and use it in your home? The free giveaways are part of a province wide collection and recycling program for leftover paint and other household hazardous waste run by the Product Care Association.
When it comes to used oil, remember that a single drop of used motor oil can contaminate a million drops of water, so keep it out of the storm drain.
Cooking oil is another pollutant. Those Little Donuts at the PNE can make as many as 300 donuts a minute for 10 hours on a busy day. It can total almost 100 litres of waste oil which all goes into special barrels to be recycled.
If you can't recycle the cooking oil you use at home, still take care to keep it out of ground water. When it's cool, put it in a sealable plastic container and dispose of it with your regular garbage. Or, sop up the oil with an absorptive material such as cat litter, sawdust, old rags, or shredded paper. Once the used oil is absorbed, the contents can be double-bagged and put in the garbage.
Empire field at the PNE is a great example of what can be made with old tires. The turf is made in a large part out of old tires that are ground up to give the turf a more natural grass feel. When the players bounce back from a tackle on the field, you can feel good about the province's $5 tire disposal fee.
And finally, this might seem a little early, but another idea on display at the fair for you to consider is renting a live, potted Christmas tree over the holidays. Then you give it back. It costs more than a cut-tree but the tree survives.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen.
