Cleanfarms do their part and clean up
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Cleanfarms is operating 20 single-day collection events throughout Alberta at local agriculture retailer locations to collect unwanted and expired pesticides and livestock medications for safe disposal.
The collection events made scheduled stops in Carseland, Drumheller, and Hussar on Oct. 21 and 22 respectively. Other stops will be running until Oct. 25.
“The reason why we are organizing the pesticide and old livestock and equine medication collections is to make sure that farmers have an opportunity to properly dispose of their materials,” said Christine Lajeunesse, eastern Canada director for Cleanfarms.
“These collections are really important … we have collected 4.52 million kilograms of unwanted pesticide since the beginning of the collections in 1998. If there were no collections, farmers would have no way of disposing of these products safely.”
Once materials are collected and packaged, parcels are sent for incineration in order to ensure it is broken down safely.
Cleanfarms collections are free of charge to farmers, which offers agriculturalists an alternative to potentially costly collections elsewhere.
Lajeunesse explained the free collection program has become one of Cleanfarms’ most popular since its inception.
“Farmers have an opportunity to safely dispose of their products for free and most of the products we collect are about six years old, but sometimes we collect some products that are over 20 years old,” she said. “It is a really good program to keep our environment safe and clean. It is a program that is offered every three years in different localities. This year it is in Southern Alberta, and next year it will be in Northern Alberta – so we rotate and it will come back to Southern Alberta in three years from now.”
The crop protection industry in partnership with the Canadian Animal Health Institute covers the full cost of operating the program and disposing of the materials safely.
Materials accepted in the Cleanfarms program include unwanted or obsolete agricultural pesticides including seed treatment, commercial pesticides and pest control products, and livestock/equine medications used for rearing livestock, poultry, or horses in an agricultural context.
The program notably does not accept treated seed, fertilizer and diluted solution, full and unopened jugs of adjuvant or surfactant, needles and sharps, medicated feed, aerosols, domestic pesticides, and household hazardous wastes.
“Every time we’re here, farmers participate in this program because having safe, reliable ways to manage these materials is important to them. Collection events offer an opportunity for farmers to dispose of the materials that may have built up on their farms over the past few years at no charge,” said Barry Friesen, Cleanfarms executive director.
“It is beneficial to our team as well because these events allow us to connect with farmers in different regions each year and learn more about their circumstances, all while providing a service that’s valuable for them and their community as a whole.”
More information about the program is available online through the Cleanfarms website.