To the Editor,
The Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District’s plan to implement kitchen compost collection is misguided.
Ostensibly the reason the ACRD is doing this is to reduce CO2 production by compost in the landfill. They also threaten to build a plant to capture CO2 from the landfill and charge residents millions of dollars if residents don’t comply with the compost collection plan.
The truth is CO2 from food waste/compost is a miniscule contribution to the environment. By far the largest contributors to CO2 in the atmosphere are electricity and heat production, industry, agriculture, forestry, and land use, transportation, and buildings. So ACRD is implementing a system of kitchen compost collection and charging $4 a month to start for nothing.
We should remember also Canada’s contribution to CO2 emission is miniscule from all the sources mentioned above. Canada’s CO2 emissions are about 1.5 percent of the world’s emissions, while China’s emissions are about 26 percent. So why implement such a scheme? It makes no sense whatsoever. It will make absolutely no difference to what Canada emits and create more inconvenience for citizens and another added expense.
Wayne F. Merk,
Port Alberni
