Residents living in the District of Lillooet and Electoral Areas A and B of the SLRD are being offered a cash incentive to upgrade their old wood stoves as part of a provincial program to improve air quality.

The Woodstove Exchange Program provides a $250 rebate to homeowners who replace old, inefficient and uncertified wood stoves with new certified clean burning wood stoves and other qualifying appliances.

The initiative is part of the Sea to Sky Clean Air Society’s Woodstove Exchange Program and is funded through grants provided by BC’s Ministry of Environment and the BC Lung Association. The SLRD recently took over administration of the program, enabling it to expand the program to include the northern parts of the regional district.

The SLRD says there are approximately 100 vouchers remaining in the regional district; vouchers will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. The program will continue until all of the vouchers have been claimed.

Rebate applications can be picked up at Rev-it-Up or Tim-BR-Mart in Lillooet, the Lillooet Landfill or the Gold Bridge Transfer Station. To be eligible for the rebate, the old appliance must be taken to the Gold Bridge Transfer Station or the Lillooet Landfill where it will be rendered inoperable and recycled. As an added incentive, standard tipping fees will be waived on all wood stoves recycled as part of the exchange program.

Province-wide, the goal of the program is to replace 50,000 old wood stoves throughout BC. New certified wood stoves are proven to burn about one third less wood, reduce smoke and particulate emissions by up to 70 per cent and can significantly reduce the risk of chimney fires.

For a list of qualifying appliances or for more information, visit www.seatoskyairquality.ca/woodstoves or contact Ian Holl, SLRD Planner at iholl@slrd.bc.ca