Look for a post on the WJC this morning, but today is the opening day. Slovakia at Sweden opens the tournament at noon, USA plays Germany at 2:30, Czechia play Switzerland at 5:00, and the main even, Finland vs Canada is at 7:30. All games are on TSN or NHL network.

Remember to watch Miroslav Holinka play for Czechia as well as Easton Cowan.

Every year people discuss why it's called Boxing Day, and I could do that. I could read all the other articles, go to the library (the Bodleian, perhaps) and research it, but why do work that a zillion other people have done? That's just hand-made AI slop.

Here is the old-fashioned internet of the nineties when the idea of online encyclopedias was popular and people thought information should be curated to be factual.

Boxing Day - Wikipedia
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.Contributors to Wikimedia projects
Why is the Day after Christmas Called ‘Boxing Day’? | HISTORY
The British Commonwealth holiday, typically celebrated on December 26, has nothing to do with fisticuffs.
HISTORYChristopher Klein
Boxing Day | Definition, Meaning, Traditions, Activities, & Facts | Britannica
Boxing Day, holiday traditionally celebrated in Great Britain and some Commonwealth countries on December 26.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Why is December 26th called Boxing Day?
In other parts of Europe, Boxing Day is known as ‘St Stephen’s Day’ instead
Sky HISTORY TV channel

Christmas is a time for nostalgia, so that's the old internet in all its glory.

Boxing Day is also the time for shopping, and one time I was dragged to Best Buy on the 26th, and needless to say, that's never happening again. You can start the shopping binge early anyway now and have piles of cardboard in your house.

What Goes in the Blue Bin (Recycling)?
Find out what is and isn’t accepted in the City’s recycling program below. When in doubt about how to properly dispose of something, ask the Waste Wizard. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) In 2021, the Province of Ontario finalized the regulation to transition Ontario’s Blue Box Program to full Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Toronto’s Blue Bin […]
City of Toronto

(You need to look up your own city or municipality, because every place is different.)

Which Plastics Are Recyclable In Canada? - BaleForce Recycling Equipment
Learn about the plastic number system in Canada and what you can or cannot recycle.
BaleForce Recycling Equipmentosim

This is a comprehensive guide to understanding how recycling actually works:

Little green lies: We fill our blue boxes with plastic, but hardly any gets recycled — will Ford’s new system change that?
The shocking truth is the vast majority of plastic packaging in Canada ends up in landfills or is burned for fuel. Finally, new rules from the feds and Ontario’s new blue box program may help.
Toronto StarRichard Warnica Business Feature Writer

This article is several years old now, and Ford's new system has not maDE any discernable changes near as I can see. It sounded good at the time, but it's likely too soon to have data on its effectiveness. All the numbers seem to be from 2018.

Recycling Statistics in Canada | Made in CA
More waste is generated in the world now than ever before from packaged food servings to plastic draws and disposable nappies. This waste ends mostly in landfills or is burnt. As the amount of waste produced increases, it puts pressure on landfills, resources, and the environment. Recycling is an important part of the solution as […]
Made in CANicole Blair
The national recovery rate for corrugated boxes is 85%. Boxes and cartons produced in Canadian packaging mills are made from 100% repurposed paper materials.
According to Greenpeace Canada, 39% of plastic pollution in Canada belongs to the top five companies, which are Nestle, Tim Hortons, Starbucks, McDonald’s, and The Coca-Cola Company in that order.

I'm not sure I trust Greenpeace completely on numbers like that, but I live the precise distance from a variety store that it takes to eat a chocolate bar, and yeah, that's what's on my lawn. On the other hand, the neighbourhood is always picked clean of aluminium cans.

Boxing Day should be recycling day because boxes can be recycled and there is a market demand for it which completes that green circle logo with the unspoken need.

Happy WJC day to all who celebrate!

From The Branches