I refer to various columns/letters in the Gazette over the last couple of weeks regarding St. Albert’s recycling program, and also the global situation regarding waste management, since this is not, as some seem to think, purely a local issue.
The first excellent column from Ken Allred (St. Albert Gazette, Commentary, Jan. 16) says that we must demand an overhaul of the packaging of retail items. Also in the column (which should have been printed in red block capitals) is that “China will no longer accept our waste, so it is now incumbent on us to look after our own garbage.” Please read that again.
Then Mayor Cathy Heron explained current recycling efforts (Gazette, Your Views, Jan. 23), emphasizing the by far two most important Rs – Reduce and Reuse. This was followed by a letter from Natasha Weston (Gazette, Your Views, Jan. 26) regarding clamshell containers, and suggesting a bay at Campbell Park for these. Fine, then what is one going to do with them when they have been collected?
Then we had the letter from Mike Killick on plastic bags and coffee cups (Gazette, Your Views, Jan. 30). By the way, many of us do carry our own coffee cups with lids, available at virtually all coffee outlets. Not only does your coffee stay hot infinitely longer, you haven’t wasted a disposable cup, and often retailers give a discount for bringing your own.
The only answer is to lessen the production of all this unnecessary packaging in the first place. I refer to CBC’s Marketplace a couple of weeks ago on plastic waste. They showed a colossal waste site in Malaysia, (nicknamed the World’s Garbage Dump), that included plastic bags from across Canada, including Sobeys and many other companies.
They interviewed a retailer (regrettably it had to be from the U.K., not Canada), who had taken over a supermarket, and in only 10 weeks, eliminated all non-biodegradable packaging, by refusing to deal with suppliers who wrapped everything in plastic.
There was a fractional increase in the price of some items, but his business is growing considerably. Things have obviously gotten ridiculously out of hand when even a cucumber has to come wrapped in thick plastic!
I truly believe that most people want to do the right thing; they just don't know how or where to shop.
Peter Jansen, St. Albert
