Editor: This is about the yuck factor in disposing of kitchen organics
After making some phone calls to find an answer as to why my compostable brown bags for kitchen organics (Biosak) are not being picked up by Sierra Waste Management, even though they were a product that was acceptable in Halton/Peel and Toronto five years ago when the program was first introduced out east, this is what I found out.
After talking to the the director of engineering for Langley Township, I found out that the problem comes down to funding. Langley’s facilities aren’t able to process the brown bags. They don’t have the latest technologically advanced equipment to process organic brown bags.
I am disappointed to see how this organic waste program has been introduced to Langley Township. Not only is it appalling that it is starting so many years after other cities across Canada have been using this system, and decades after Germany and other European countries have begun to separate their organic waste efficiently, it’s been poorly advertised.
If you want to change the way people have been doing something for a long time, you need to make people aware and get everyone on board. My husband and I were thrilled to see how our city in Ontario got everyone interested and on board with the change in how to separate garbage.
All households received a free plastic kitchen waste container with a few sample products to try out. We were given both brown paper bags and brown bags large and small. If we liked the product, it was easy enough to identify the product on the shelves of any store.
The only problem we had with it was that these products sold like hot cakes and the shelves were empty of the product at the beginning of this changeover process. The city also gave all households a green plastic organic waste garbage can on wheels. This made it easily identifiable for the waste management pick-up.
It’s frustrating when you want to get on board with the idea of being more environmentally friendly, but at the same time keeping things as simple as can be. Sierra Waste Management told me that there are surprisingly many Langley residents who still haven’t bothered separating their food from their garbage.
One reason is the yuck factor. Cleaning your kitchen bucket daily is extra work. Using a brown bag by Biosak makes it a lot easier to handle.
The same yuck factor applies to the organic garbage can, which will have maggots crawling around in the heat of the summer. No wonder residents aren’t jumping at the idea of separating their garbage. Langley Township needs to re-introduce its program and should learn a few lessons from out east.
Ursula Neuscheler,
Langley
