So, what’s the better plan?
Dear Editor,
In response to the idea of building and operating a high-temperature waste incinerator, some have claimed there are better ways of dealing with trash, citing several potential dangerous side effects of incineration. I agree that a monstrous incinerator demanding a constant stream of waste material is awful to contemplate. I hate that idea, nearly as much as I hate all the other ideas I’ve heard of so far.
The very fact that we, the humans of Earth, have bought into a system that generates worthless and useless garbage on a massive scale infuriates me in my moments of existential angst. Against my best advice over the decades, our so-called civilization has run headlong toward this abyss, so as to find ourselves in possession of mountains of stuff we don’t want and can’t use.
If there’s a better way of dealing with this mass, please don’t keep it a secret. Send a message to your local environment committee member, or to the Warden. But please don’t dishonour the decades of active research that have preceded our coming upon this ‘least-worse’ method of dealing with the problem.
Tossing trash into a hole and slow burning it has been tried and found lacking. Dumping trash into a hole, packing and covering it has been tried, and found to be lacking. Dumping trash into the ocean has been tried, and found to be lacking. Leaving it scattered about the countryside seems popular with some citizens, but we can’t condone that method. Educating the public to decrease wasteful packaging has been tried, but somehow, the amount of trash goes up, not down.
You may or may not have a direct vote in the outcome of this project. Voice your concerns, as many of us have been doing for a long time, or learn to go along with the plan, and direct your waste material to where it can be dealt with in the ‘least-worse’ manner.
Robert Wills, Thorne and Shawville
Thank you for your stories
Dear Editor,
Over the years I have looked forward to
THE EQUITY as a source of local news. My interest continues because of editorials, columns and letters, especially those of Charles Dickson, Chris Judd, Jane Toller and Robert Wills. Research and good sense are evident.
Thank you,
Blythe McCleary, Ottawa and Green Lake
Greermount Church vandalism
Dear Editor:
Recently a crime was commited. There was a break and enter at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church in Greermount.
The vandals broke in through the main entrance and smashed a window from the inside.
Does this mindless person or persons have no respect for the loved ones that are buried there, do they have no respect for the early settlers who built these churches, made this land what it is today, through sheer hard work?
Over the years there have been minor acts of vandalism at St. Stephens, which have been tolerated, but now it’s time to speak broadly about it. For what could happen next?
If anybody reading this has any information as to who the culprit(s) may be, I would encourage them to report it to the police.
At first one feels anger and annoyance. The anger and annoyance goes away, but then the hurt sets in and it seems to stay.
Paul Stanworth, Thorne, Que.
4-H memories
Dear Editor,
The Parents’ Voice piece: “4-H” by Gillian MacDougall and Alina Holmes (THE EQUITY, July 12, 2023) brought back fond childhood memories of a growing consciousness about life.
When my family moved from Tanganyika (now Tanzania) to Mission, British Columbia, we rented an old farmhouse that came with a dilapidated barn. Besides going to school, my brother and I joined the local 4-H Club, a rural youth organization sponsored by the Department of Agriculture of Canada.
As new members, we chose to raise chickens. About eight weeks into our venture, our mother asked us to prepare one of the hens for supper.What ensued was an unfortunate series of events involving my brother and I, and the chicken, the details of which would not be suitable for publication here. Suffice it to say that, in the end, the designated hen was spared.
While it would be a fitting end to the story to say it went on to win a prize in the ‘Poultry Showmanship’ competition at the 4-H Festival in Vancouver in 1958, it didn’t. But my rooster did, and it also came second for its plumage.
Members of the 4-H Club are required to pledge: “To use my Head to clearer thinking; my Heart to greater loyalty; my Hands to larger service, and my Health to better living – for my club, my community, and my country.”
Good standards, indeed, for young and old, living in the country or city.
Chris Eustace, Montreal, Que.
