Disappointment on the waste management front

Dear Editor,

As environment councillor for Thorne, and a member of the waste management committee of MRC, I am dedicated to the idea of reducing the costs of disposing of things citizens buy and don’t want anymore. Residual garbage and scrap metals and plastics are being dealt with, but a big concern is that organic waste, such as kitchen scrap, is still being tossed along with other garbage. This multiplies the cost of transport and the dangers of final disposal because organic waste is heavy and smelly and when buried in landfill, results in methane generation, a major cause of climate change. We really need to find other ways to deal with kitchen waste and the closer to source the better.

I was enthusiastic about the development of a new appliance which purports to deal with kitchen scraps overnight, by grinding and drying them, so that one could immediately use the remaining dry mixture in houseplants or lawn and garden soil amendment. Now I find evidence that the benefits were amplified by the product developers and marketers. https://www.biocycle.net/not-compost/

There is no immediate composting — the drying and grinding process does diminish the problems for the householder, because a bag of dried material is easier to handle than a bag or bucket of wet, smelly kitchen scraps. But it’s just the first step toward composting and recycling organic waste. It still needs to be composted, which is a slower process wherein microbes digest the scraps, making the basic chemicals available for plant food.

I have a worm bin which handles much of the initial process but I recognize that my system wouldn’t suit everyone. I happen to have an ideal space in my basement for it and I am unusually obsessed with re-using or recycling leftovers. I still have to process the remainders in an outdoor compost pile. Worms love banana peels and coffee grounds, which are two major food groups in my house. There are some foods which worms don’t like, such as the garlic and onion family. I also have a green cone digester which handles the things worms don’t like. Each spring, I separate worm castings and the digested green cone remainders and put them into the compost pile, along with hardwood leaves, sawdust and soil.

I suppose the bottom line is that having and using a kitchen waste appliance is the first step and the next is to have a relationship with an organic gardener, who has the space and interest in taking your waste to the next stage. Make kitchen scraps a resource, not a waste problem.

Robert Wills, Thorne and Shawville

In support

Dear Editor,

I am writing to you to say how much I support Jill McBane of Boutique Shawville Shooz, about the warning she received from the French language authority after posts in English only on her store’s Facebook page.

I also applaud Mick Armitage’s letter speaking out against the French language laws. Yes, their ancestors have been here since the 1800s, how would those hard working, Irish, English and Scottish pioneers, who cleared the land and made Canada, and let’s not forget, Quebec is a province of Canada, feel today? Yes, French people settled here and they inter-married and became Canadians.

I cannot speak of years gone by, but there is no way today that the French language is in any danger of being suppressed. Drive up Hwy. 17 in Ontario, all road signs are in both English and French but drive up Hwy. 148 on the Quebec side and road signs are in French only. Also, when a business sign is bilingual the law says that the English lettering must be smaller than the French. Isn’t that degrading?

So, according to Statistics Canada census of 2021, every town except Calumet Island, Mansfield and Pontefract are mostly anglophone. Yes, but look at the surnames of residents of Calumet Island and as well as French there are many Irish names. Look at the names of the roads, there are as many Irish as French, so what does that tell you?

I have many francophone friends, especially in Fort Coulonge, Davidson and Mansfield and Pontefract. We get along fine and let’s not forget that Mansfield and Pontefract are towns in North East England. So, what does that tell you?

The money being spent on these language inspectors is disgusting. Money that could go to our health care system.

With all the troubles in the world the language law is a disgrace. Let not this law drive a stake between us anglophones and our francophone friends.

We all come from different parts of the globe, Europe, Asia, etc. Oh and there is a Welsh man, that’s me (although I don’t speak Welsh) but I’m now a proud Canadian citizen. Since my school days I’ve never allowed anyone to bully and these separatists certainly won’t.

Language is a means of communication, neigh, neigh, woof, woof, meow meow, and tell our politicians to stand up to the seperatists.

Paul Stanworth, Thorne, Que.

Open letter to Sophie Chatel

Dear Ms. Chatel,

We are emphatic in our request today that you inform the Prime Minister that his choice for Rapporteur, David Johnston is not acceptable.

This choice should be made by the people of Canada, period.

Please acknowledge that this action has been undertaken, by yourself in your official capacity.

Robert and Sandra Barber, Luskville, Que.