Environment Canada’s website states that Canada ranks among the highest producers of solid waste per capita in the entire industrialized world. Although Canada is viewed as a country of abundant water resources, in reality we are facing a mounting threat as a result of improper waste management. The preservation of our environment is a priority. Human desecration of the land, water and air has got to stop before it reaches the point of no return. Everything we do creates damage.
Huntsville needs to take a lead in Muskoka to make strides toward attaining a goal of maximum divergence of garbage going to our landfill sites, with the ultimate goal of as close to zero as possible being dumped.
Garbage that normally fills landfill sites can be diverted, reused and recycled. Wood waste material constitutes a significant percentage of the waste that causes overload. Saying that wood products are biodegradable is irresponsible considering that wood and wood products can be alternately used for thermal heating and creation of energy. Some wood products can be repurposed.
Almost every item that is now considered garbage can be torn apart, disassembled and diverted for a new purpose. Many discarded items such as furniture could be repurposed and reused.
There needs to be serious investigation of how to divert the garbage that is accumulating in astounding amounts here in our municipality. Take note of the dumpsters beside businesses in our town and consider this massive amount of trash.
These dumpsters constitute a massive amount of garbage that gets tossed in our landfill. Perhaps there needs to be a dumpster plan implemented that paper related refuse must be segregated from the other trash, that food stuffs be placed in compost green bins, that plastics and glass be separated into clear bags or containers to differentiate same. When these dumpsters are used for construction debris, the discards should be separated in an organized fashion to segregate materials that could be reused/recycled. A start has to be made somewhere.
It’s interesting to note that 90 per cent of Edmonton’s garbage is recycled and that other cities and towns across the country are following suit in a multitude of ways. Every facet of their waste management program creates jobs and provides sustainability for the environment.
I realize that there is considerable financial cost involved in order to implement such a policy and there needs to be a huge change in perception, however, it is possible. There also has to be credit given for our present recycling system, which diverts a huge amount from going to our landfill sites. It just needs to be carried further with an urgency that is commensurate with environmental destruction.
David Suzuki said it well when he stated that the past is landfill for handling garbage and that the future is a goal of total divergence. In other words zero garbage dumped for the destruction of the environment.
The beginning of this change should be now.
Frances Botham
Huntsville