We’ll have to take care of this one ourselves
Dear Editor,
I’m talking about waste management. We’ve gotten to the point where nearly everything we buy and use comes to us wrapped in plastic. I had a project for which I needed several more ratchet straps than I had. My local store stocked them, so problem partly solved. They came enclosed in a nearly indestructible plastic rack. It took me longer to remove the straps from the packaging than it did to complete the job for which I bought them. The odd thing is, that packaging (which still exists somewhere, immutable in its useless configuration) probably cost more to make than did the ratchet straps and then there’s the cost of disposing of this useless bit of plastic, bound to sit in a landfill for centuries.
Wood, paper or metal containers can be re-used, re-purposed or recycled fairly easily, but plastic, especially very hard plastic, is difficult to find any secondary uses for. The provincial government has mandated local governments to deal with waste management and they are doing a pretty good job of dealing as they can. The problem is, that many people don’t chip into the system, and toss their packaging willy-nilly in the wrong places. It’s very difficult to catch and prove who is doing this, but it detracts from the view, and cleaning it up is a big thankless task. So it’s up to everyone, to make sure your waste goes to its proper place.
Shipping trash to a distant landfill was a stop-gap solution decades ago, but it is limited by the available space. The cost is going to increase over time, as the designated landfill gets filled and the price of fuel to haul it there becomes greater. A solution with fewer downsides is a waste-to-energy incinerator. This system has its drawbacks, but it looks better than landfilling, which is a total loss and cannot be sustained.
But any system of collection and disposal will require participation at the front line, your household. Until such a time as an incinerator is built, we still need to make sure that we and our neighbours are not leaving trash where it is only an eyesore.
The next step in waste management will be making sure that organic matter such as kitchen scraps do not go into the trash barrel that will be shipped to Lachute — organic matter is most of the weight and causes most of the problems with landfill waste disposal. The bad smell, the extra weight, the methane generation are all factors of organics being crammed in with inorganic matter, squeezed and buried. That’s why old landfills have methane vents and people are discouraged from going there, methane is a poisonous, flammable greenhouse gas. We don’t need to be making it at all.
There is much more to be said about waste management, especially organics, but this is getting to be long and involved for a letter to the papers, so I will continue at a later date.
Robert Wills,
Thorne and Shawville, Que.
Still waiting
Dear Editor,
On Friday, Nov. 25, 2022, the Public Order Emergency Commission Inquiry came to an end with the testimony of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Months ago, I had sent an e-mail to the member of Parliament for Pontiac, Sophie Chatel, questioning why as a citizen of Canada I could not spend my money exactly as I wanted? Yes, I had donated monies on three separate occasions to both GoFundMe and GiveSendGo in support of the Freedom Convoy, my choice and only my choice. Yet, it was all refunded to me as ordered by this government.
To date, I have yet to receive even an acknowledgment to my e-mail, let alone a reply. My question is this — is it reasonable to expect that an elected representative’s primary duty to respond to their constituents, even if only to say — ”I will get back to you at some future date?” (My words).
How this Liberal federal government is even in power today is beyond my comprehension since their arrogance is beyond appalling and they ignore all Canadians, even law-abiding ones.
Thank you for listening.
Sandra D. Barber
Luskville, Que.
