Born in Ireland and raised in Ontario, Eamonn Duignan, a B.C. resident for over 25 years, attributes his mom with imparting values about sustainability, recycling, and upcycling—well before those terms became commonplace—and ingrained her approach: don't be wasteful, and don't throw anything out that still had value in some form.
Armed with multiple degrees: forestry, kinesiology, and education, his eventual career path wasn't derived from those disciplines, in fact, it was happenstance, taking a part-time job driving a truck for a junk removal company to support his passion for riding and exploring the limits of mountain bikes. Duignan also participated in semi-professional mountain biking for 14 years.
However, the model was not sustainable. "It consisted of pick-up and drop-off at the landfill, regardless of the material or value, and I felt it didn't align with the values I was taught," reveals Duignan. "I believed I could do it better my way, on my own."
After being inspired by more eco-friendly ways to dispose of waste, Duignan is now president and owner of North Vancouver's Green Coast Rubbish, and for the past 17 years, has been making a meaningful difference in the community and beyond, while protecting the natural environment.
The company's main services include residential and commercial junk removal, custom recycling programs (for items such as binders, carpet, and styrofoam), deconstruction, demolition and waste removal from construction sites. They endeavour to consciously minimize their footprint on the planet, which is reflected in their work ethic, by diverting as much waste as possible from landfills, making every effort to recycle, reuse and repurpose to the fullest extent they can.
"Our diversion rate is consistently over 75 per cent, based on data collected by Climate Smart from 2010 to 2020," recalls Duignan. "In a typical year, we divert more than one million pounds of material through our green junk removal practices as reported by Climate Smart. That's material that doesn't end up in our landfills."
As a local enterprise, they think globally and act locally, with community involvement as a pillar of their philosophy, not only serving the community, but collaborating with like-minded organizations.
Supporting local and relationship building is a cornerstone to their approach, working together with community charities and organizations to achieve the same goal: to lessen the reliance on landfills.
"I've fostered a lot of relationships over time," says Duignan. "We work a lot with Tom Riessner, founder of Urban Repurpose, a great local charity, as well as Shelter to Home, a North Vancouver-based charity. We also support many others beyond the North Shore and do a number of things throughout the year."
One such undertaking was a recycling project with BCAA, making handcrafted tote bags, upcycled from canvas comfort kits and emergency kits. "It was really cool to utilize materials for good use and save them from being dumped."
Green Coast Rubbish is also a proud sponsor of the annual Lynn Valley Parade of Trees. As a team that lives for repurposing used materials, they sourced decorations for their tree from materials from their recycling jobs.
Duignan is a hands-on guy, in his words, "I'm the glue," he says, basing his operation on clear communication, which makes everything run efficiently. His crew of a dozen employees are all local hires and mainly part-time young adults, who work cohesively within a culture of strong collaboration.
"They're all respectful and well-intentioned individuals," says Duignan. "It's really encouraging to see how they've grown, and the things they've learned and applied in their life. That's very important to me. The impact on personal lives, which in turn, impacts the community. That's a really powerful thing."
"I would never imagine from when I began that I would have a fleet of vehicles and such a strong tie to the community," explains Duignan. "To have a business that would be revered and accepted, starting something from nothing and then being so connected, and having those relationships with so many people for 17 years is pretty special."
For more information, visit greencoastrubbish.com
