The Region of Waterloo gave out free recycling bins on Saturday and the response from residents was overwhelming.
At The Aud, people started lining up at 5 a.m. even though the blue boxes wouldn’t be handed out for another two hours.
By 11 a.m. all the bins were gone.
“We got here at about 5:30 in the morning and there was about a hundred people in line,” says Deanna Dakin, the region’s waste management coordinator.
Most people said they waited between 15 and 20 minutes to get a blue box. Green waste bins were also given out.
The giveaway is meant to help homeowners ahead of changes to the region’s curbside pickup service.
Garbage will only be collected every two weeks starting next March.
The region hopes the change will encourage more residents to recycle.
Blue and green bins will still be collected on a weekly basis.
To accommodate the increase in recycling the new blue boxes are much larger than the previous version.
12,000 bins were handed out at Conestoga Mall, Cambridge Centre and The Aud.
Residents who missed out on the giveaway may get a second chance later this fall.
The Region says they’ll have more information in October.
While the bins were handed out at no charge, residents were encouraged to bring donations for local food banks.
