On April 4th and 5th, First Nations Waste Minimization (FNWM) team held their first ever Waste Coordinators Meetup at the Wyndham Gardens hotel situated on the Long Plain First Nation Madison Reserve No. 1. The event was inspired by comments made by coordinators who attended the MARR Recycling and Waste Reduction forum held in October 2022. The need for a Manitoban group of Indigenous waste technical advisors was made clear after the presentation held by Indigenous Zero Waste Technical Advisory Group (IZWTAG), who operate out of British Columbia.
Waste and recycling coordinators from 9 communities FNWM works with traveled to Winnipeg to meet about issues and topics related to the work they do in their communities and to begin planning how to work together more formally.
The event was a great success, with excellent in-depth discussions and collaboration taking place over the two days. Topics discussed during the workshops were successes, challenges, community, highlights, wish lists, and hopes for the future; with a couple key speakers offering their insights.
On day one, participants took a tour bus to Exner E-waste facility located in Elie, MB. Lunch was catered by Feast Bistro, who provided incredible bannock and ham sandwiches. Later on in the evening, the group went out to Uptown Lanes where we played 10-pin bowling and had a great time bonding over pizza and pins.
On day two, participants took the tour bus to Mother Earth Recycling (MER) and saw how they process mattresses, e-waste, and child car seats. MER took the group through their refurbished electronics shop, and spoke about their job placement programming. After one big final discussion, Bannock Tacos were served for supper and the event concluded.
FNWM would like to give a big thank you/Miigwetch/Ekosani to the waste and recycling coordinators who took time out of their busy schedules to come out and collaborate in hopes of strengthening Indigenous waste management in Manitoba. We hope this event is the first of many, and that we’ll have even more communities involved in the future!
