The phrase “garbage in, garbage out” has been used to refer to computer programming, but the more literal meaning certainly holds true with regard to our current dilemma with waste management.
The once hailed recycling system is so badly broken that our entire waste collection system is in drastic need of recycling.
Firstly, consumers must resist the marketing campaigns and refuse to buy all of the often-useless gadgets, fashions or whatever else is on the market. It’s time to become minimalists.
Secondly, we must demand an overhaul of the packaging of retail items. It is almost a necessity to carry around a cutting tool to open the almost indestructible plastic wrapping on most containers on our purchases. Even the tiniest mail order items come bound in Styrofoam or oversized packaging, most of which is not recyclable. This is one of the unintended consequences of modern technology and manufacturing and distribution efficiencies.
These two issues represent the “garbage in” part, which is in only partially under our control, but we can demand better packaging restrictions from our retailers, who can in turn pass the concerns on to wholesalers and manufacturers.
Thirdly, we need an overhaul of our waste management system. The Dec. 22 Gazette article entitled “Banned from the blue bag” set out the new rules for recycling in the City of St. Albert.
St. Albert used to be a leader in the recycling effort, but with all of the new restrictions, it seems to me that our landfills are once again going to mushroom. The list of unacceptable items is longer than the list of acceptable items. With the elimination of glass bottles, shredded paper and most plastics, more and more recyclables will end up in the brown garbage container.
A number of years ago, St. Albert was a leader in purchasing a unique glass grinder whereby glass bottles could be ground up and used economically for a multitude of uses. Now it will not be allowed in our blue bags, although it can be taken to the recycling depot. They say there is a surplus of recycled glass, but surely there can never be enough to satisfy the need as a filler in asphalt pavement.
The City of Edmonton has or had a state-of-the-art mechanical and hand-sorting system that was apparently capable of sorting 95 per cent of the recyclable waste stream, but that now seems to be out the window.
China will no longer accept our waste, so it is now incumbent on us to look after our own garbage.
St. Albert has three separate garbage trucks circulating the city on a weekly or bi-weekly routine – that cannot be environmentally friendly in itself.
Leaves are picked up in the fall, but spring cleanup ends up in the landfill.
The monthly cost of waste management to the homeowner keeps rising but consumers continue to be exasperated by the restrictions. Something must be done – a system that was once state of the art needs a major overhaul to address the current recycling dilemma. Let’s face it – the system is broken!
The “garbage out” part is obviously much more complicated but hinges on the amount of “garbage in.” We must tackle both problems if we are going to recycle the present and save the future.
Ken Allred is a former St. Albert alderman and MLA.
