What do with (some of) the city's dirty diapers?
Councillors approve a yellow bag program for licensed home-based child care providers POSTMEDIA FILE PHOTO  Article content The city is looking at ways to ease the diaper crunch. A report presented to the operations committee this week outlined the options for an expanded program that would enable licensed home-based day-care providers to dispense with dirty diapers. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser. Back to video Staff were recommending an expanded yellow bag program for which licensed child care providers would register. Disposable diapers are considered odourous and may cause storage concerns, especially in the summer months, the report noted. Most concerns can be addressed by ensuring the bag(s) of diapers are tightly closed and stored safely; however, if a home child care provider is unable to store the diaper waste, a yellow bag program with weekly collection for licensed home child care providers could be developed by environmental services and funded by childrens services. The yellow bag program for licensed home-based child care providers would cost about $15,000 annually to implement, according to the report. Eligibility would be limited to the 25 home-based businesses that have registered through the Jubilee agency. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Members of the operations committee agreed with the staff recommendation and voted in favour of the yellow bag program. Only Ward 5 Coun. Robert Kirwan opposed it. Ward 9 Coun. Deb McIntosh introduced a motion in May seeking more information about how day-care providers could address their waste needs. It was prompted by the citys move in February to biweekly trash collection. Recycling and green bin pick-up remained weekly, as did diaper collection at residential addresses (so far, more than 430 families have signed up for weekly diaper collection). Home-based daycares, however, were excluded from the weekly pick-up program. To help with special garbage needs, residents can arrange to receive weekly waste pick-up for diaper and medical waste, McIntosh explained to The Star last month. Home daycares are considered businesses, and as such do not qualify for the special residential programs available for diaper waste. That created an issue, since most licensed day-care providers are located in low-density residential homes. They would be eligible for the fee-based yellow bag non-residential roadside garbage collection every other week, McIntosh said in her motion. They would not qualify for weekly diaper collection. While it is a small gesture, McIntosh said it could be beneficial to home-based daycare providers. Day care for our children is a service essential to the well-being of our community, she said. If there is a way we can help these very small businesses adapt to the changes in our waste collection policies, I think its worth taking a look.  Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The cost to deliver the program will be recovered through provincial grants and managed by childrens services. Staff was recommending the committee approve two bags per week, each weighing a maximum of 40 pounds. Jubilee, the licensed home child care agency, will purchase the yellow bags from the city and distribute them to licensed home child care providers who have registered for the program, the report noted. The program will be administered by way of application. The application will be reviewed to confirm that the applicant is currently registered as a licensed home child care provider with Jubilee. To qualify, the establishment must be located on a residential waste collection route and within a property eligible to receive residential roadside waste collection services. As part of the yellow bag program, each registered address will receive weekly roadside collection of two yellow bags full of diapers. While they also provide a valuable service, unlicensed child care providers  there are an estimated 90 in the city  are not regulated and therefore, they are not eligible for access to provincial funding. While Ward 1 Coun. Mark Signoretti noted the program could spiral out of control and become very expensive if unlicensed day-care providers were to be included, Kirwan felt that if offered to licensed providers, the city should also offer the yellow bag program to their unlicensed counterparts. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content I do believe that whether or not youre licensed, you have the same problem with those diapers that are only picked up every two weeks, Kirwan said. In some cases, two bags every two weeks is enough for some of the home care providers. The problem is the stink if youve got to keep them for an extra week. Kirwan wanted the program extended to unlicensed care providers and suggested an amendment to the resolution. He asked that a maximum of 90 unlicensed child care providers be allowed to register for the yellow bag program. The money to fund the program  about $150,000  for the duration of 2021 would have come from the tax rate stabilization reserve. His amendment, however, was defeated. McIntosh said in May the city is working on a long-term waste plan. She said she expected diaper collection would become part of a review. The city already has special residential programs available for the pick-up of diaper, medical and pet waste, she told The Star. The environmental services department is also currently reviewing its long-term master plan for waste. I am sure options for the disposal of diaper waste will be on the agenda. Council must approve the yellow bag program before it can be implemented. mkkeown@postmedia.com  Twitter: @marykkeown  Facebook: @mkkeown  705 674 5271 ext. 505235  Share this article in your social network        News Near Sudbury