Dear editor,
After reading recent articles about the upcoming referendum on roadside garbage and recycling service, I have some concerns.
According to their website, the regional district claims that they are considering this service to help in their “goal to divert 70 per cent of the region’s solid waste away from landfills.”
If that is in fact the case, then why are we voting on a proposal to collect garbage weekly?
I believe that most rural residents who have had to deal with their own garbage disposal for years are very aware of how much garbage they generate and what they can do to minimize that. Much more so than say the average urban family that has always had weekly garbage pickup.
My point is that if indeed the regional district wanted to reduce garbage coming into the landfill, they could make a big step forward by allocating garbage pickup once or twice a month for its residents and thereby encourage them to throw away less (not more) garbage.
Then, the municipalities could follow suit and the Regional District Waste Management team would be 50 per cent closer to its goal.
My family in Area B pays privately to have once a month pickup of our garbage — it costs us about $150 and we are careful about what we buy in terms of packaging and waste and we rarely have put out more than two cans of garbage a month.
We recycle, when there are recycling facilities available to us in the Valley, but that will become a bit of a chore and expense if I have to drive from my home on the far side of Comox to the landfill to do my recycling.
Wasting all that gas to be “green” just doesn’t make much sense to me.
As I said, I have some concerns. As a conscientious landfill user, this referendum offers me the opportunity to throw away more garbage, not less.
It’s not rocket science — pick up less often and put less garbage in the landfill. Are our waste management directors asleep?
Jay Luchsinger,
Area B
