News

A major break on the Bearspaw South Feeder Main continues to impact Calgary’s water supply. With this critical pipeline out of service, the city is relying on the smaller Glenmore Water Treatment Plant and a limited supply from the Glenmore Reservoir.

As a result, Stage 4 Water Restrictions remain in place until repairs are complete. This is a serious situation. On January 4, city water use reached 510 million litres (ML), which is 25 ML more than the treatment plants can currently produce daily.

Everyone must take action to reduce indoor water use immediately.

How Businesses Can Help:

• Fix any leaking taps in kitchens, washrooms, and laundry areas.
• Identify areas in your daily operations where you can improve water efficiency.
• Work with staff to find ways to minimize water use in their duties.
  • Example: Adjust cleaning practices—wipe surfaces instead of washing, and sweep instead of spraying with water.

How Residents Can Help at Home:

• Flush toilets only when necessary.
• Run dishwashers and washing machines only with full loads.
• Shorten showers to 3 minutes or less.

Remember the Key Actions:

• Flush only when needed.
• Wait for full loads before running appliances.
• Keep showers to 3 minutes or less.

For More Information & Resources:

• Bearspaw water main break
• Potable Water Demand Dashboard
• Saving water in your home

Please share this important information with neighbours and friends through your social networks and community chats.

Let’s all do our part to conserve this vital resource.

The City of Calgary is offering complimentary compost for residents to use in their yards and gardens this spring. The compost is made from the food and yard waste collected through the Green Cart program.

Where can I pick up compost?

Compost is available for pickup from April 14 to May 31, by appointment only, at Shepard (South) and Spyhill (North) landfills.

When

Online booking starts on April 1. Compost pick-up appointments will be released in the following time slots:

• April 14 – May 3 appointments: Available to book starting April 1.
• May 5 – 17 appointments: Available to book starting April 29.
• May 19 – 31 appointments; Available to book starting May 13.

To book an appointment or for more information, visit calgary.ca/compost

The SHCA is proud to support the Epilepsy Association of Calgary by shining our rink lights in bright Purple on March 26.

Shine a light on Epilepsy! 1 in 100 people in our province are living with an epilepsy diagnosis. That’s about 65,000 individuals facing unique challenges, 30,000 in Southern Alberta, including 5,000 children. At the Epilepsy Association of Calgary, we provide vital support, education, and advocacy to empower those affected by epilepsy. We’re here for kids too! The Epilepsy Association of Calgary supports youth programming, including Camp Fireworks, to ensure they get the care and support they deserve. Let’s raise awareness and foster understanding to support those affected. Together, we can make a difference!  Join us in turning March 26th purple for Purple Day! 

Show your support for epilepsy awareness by wearing your favourite shades of purple, lighting up spaces purple, indulging in a purple treat or starting a fundraiser! Share your photos using #postyourpurple. Let’s create a sea of purple together!

#purpleday #epilepsyawareness www.epilepsycalgary.com

Collection days are changing in April

Starting April 22, many Calgary households will see blue, black or green cart pick-up days moving to improve routes. These updates also align with the return of city-wide weekly green cart collection. The new collection schedules will be available on calgary.ca/cartschedule by April 8. Check your schedule to:

• Find out whether your blue, black or green cart pick-day is changing.
• Know when your weekly green cart begins.

Collection schedule changes update automatically if you have signed up for reminders.

Did you know that The City provides free reminders for your blue, black and green cart pick-up days?

All you need to do is sign up! When it’s time to put your carts out for collection, we’ll send you a reminder. When you sign up, you will get:

• instant access to your pick-up schedule,
• notifications about any changes to your collection schedule and,
• useful tips for using your blue, green and black carts.

It’s easy!

Option 1: Go to calgary.ca/cartschedule

• Type your address in search box to view your collection days.
• Click on ‘Get a reminder’ to receive your preferred method. Choose to be notified by email, calendar or phone, either the day before or the day of your collection.

Option 2: Download the Garbage Day App onto your phone

• Available on the App Store or Google Play.
• Set notifications to remind you of your cart collection days.

Never miss another cart collection day again.

A Big Thank You to all of our Casino Volunteers!

Another successful Casino was held on January 1st and 2nd. A very dedicated group donated their time and energy (and sleep) to raising funds required to run our Community for the next 18 months. Their names in alphabetical are: Alice L., Alla X., Andrea L., Brenda B., Brian L., Carol L., Cathy T., Dan B., David I., Deb K., Doug H., Gerry L., Janet P., John G., Jun H., June P., Kyra B., Laurel M., Linda V., Lois F., Lu H., Mary D., Maureen M., Pauline P., Peter W., Susan I., Terry M., Tracy M., TracyLyn M., Vern M. and last but not least Ward C. Another group of volunteers put themselves “on call” to be available in case something got in the way – Barb C., Curtis L., Ghada Z., Inam T., Jim C., Masoud P., and Ron W.

The Casino proceeds are aggregated with all other Charities that hold Casinos in the 1st quarter of 2025. Disbursement of funds is usually available to the Community within two months of quarter end. We apply for our next Casino on the morning after we complete our duties. Our application went in at 4:00 am on the 3rd.

If you recognize one of your 38 neighbour’s names in this list, make sure to thank them and ask them about their experience.

Thanks again, Fundraising Director Gord Vogt

This year, close to 180,000 households with Wednesday cart collection are affected by changes to the holiday pick-up schedule. These residents should be aware of the following changes:

• Christmas Week: Collection moves to Monday, December 23.
• New Year’s Week: Collection moves to Monday, December 30.

Regular Wednesday pick-up resumes January 8. Residents can stay updated on schedule changes and set reminders by signing up for free at calgary.ca/collection.

The holiday season brings gifts, good cheer, and plenty of extra waste. To help Calgarians manage it responsibly, The City is sharing tips to reduce, reuse, and ensure items like gift wrap, boxes, and holiday food scraps are sorted into the correct bins.

Reuse and reduce this Christmas.

By rethinking traditions and getting creative, Calgarians can reduce the waste that ends up in their bins. Below are some holiday tips to get Calgarians started.

• Give the gift of experiences rather than physical goods.
• Buy items that come with less packaging or in recyclable packaging.
• Use fabric, newspaper/flyers, or old calendars to wrap gifts.
• Save gift wrap, gift bags, bows, and ribbons for reuse.
• Plan your meals and holiday food shopping to prevent waste and save money.
• Skip the paper napkins in favour of a reusable cloth material.
• Use reusable containers for leftovers instead of plastic wrap or tin foil.

Put your holiday waste in the right bin.

Put the following recyclables loose (not in a bag unless otherwise stated) into your blue cart:

• Wrapping paper and tissue paper.
• Cardboard boxes, gift boxes, shoe and shipping boxes – flatten your boxes to make extra room in your blue cart.
• Paper gift bags – remove the handles before recycling.
• Holiday cards and envelopes.
• Moulded plastic packaging with recycling symbol #1-7 (commonly found with electronics and kid’s toys).
• Bubble wrap – bundle with other stretchy plastic bags and tie the handles closed.
• Cookie and chocolate tins – eat the cookies and chocolates first.

Use your green cart to compost such food items as:

• Turkey carcasses and other bones.
• Pastries, cookies, cakes, and muffins.
• Plate scrapings and vegetable scraps.
• All food-soiled paper, including napkins, paper plates, coffee filters, baking paper and liners.
• Cooking oil, lard, shortening, jam, butter, sauces, grease, dips, salad dressing, mayonnaise, and gravy.

After recycling and composting the right items, make sure to put these end-of-use products in the black cart as garbage.

• Non-recyclable gift wrap like tinsel, cellophane, metallic and foil gift wrap.
• Broken household items like dishes, ornaments, lights, and artificial Christmas trees.

Items such as old and used electronics, dead batteries, and most shipping foam and takeout containers can be taken in one convenient trip to a City Eco Centre.

Calgarians can learn more holiday waste tips at calgary.ca/holidaywaste.

After the holidays, don’t let those real Christmas trees go to waste.

Calgarians have two options to compost their real Christmas tree. For both options, all lights, ornaments, tinsel, string, and tree stands must be removed.

Option 1: Use your green cart –cut tree into small pieces to fit inside the green cart, making sure the lid can close.

Option 2: Bring to a tree drop-off location – available across the city from December 26, 2024, to January 31, 2025. Do not wrap or bag your tree.For a full list of locations visit calgary.ca/christmastree.

Mother nature appears to bring cool enough temperatures to attempt to lay down the ice rink Dec 15/16/17. If all goes well there might be ice available at Signal Hill next week. If it doesn’t work this time, your friendly rink volunteers will make another attempt a little later in December. Please check back to shca.ca for the latest.

The SHCA is fortunate to receive the opportunity from the AGLC to manage another fundraising Casino in 2025.

Our dates are Wednesday January 1st and Thursday the 2nd, 2025. The funds raised cover approximately 75% of our annual expenses. We’re looking for 14 additional volunteers to perform duties at the Casino. We are coached by expert Casino Advisors who we hire to make sure that everything runs smoothly and within the AGLC guidelines. No experience is necessary.

If you can help out please click on the link below.
https://volunteersignup.org/E7DD7

Specifics:

• When: Wednesday January 1st and Thursday January 2nd, 2025
• Where: Ace Casino Airport
• Food: Meal provided at the casino
• Experience: None needed, will learn on the go

• Yard waste like leaves, branches, grass, and plants can go directly inside the green cart. 
• Always fill your green cart first, then fill paper yard waste bags. Roll tops of bags closed to prevent spills and allow your collector to pick up the bags.
• Place extra yard waste bags at least two feet to the side of your green cart for collection. Make sure you can lift the bag with one hand.
• Do not use plastic bags in your green cart.

Starting in November, the City will pick up your green cart once every other week. Weekly green cart collection will resume in the spring.

Visit calgary.ca/collection to check your schedule and sign up for reminders.