I am talking about the debate over curbside recycling pickup. You see, Saskatoon is one of the few jurisdictions in the civilized world where there is no curbside recycling program. This is by choice, as every year it seems, city residents vote down proposals to institute a recycling program that would cost a few dollars a months per house. Instead, a majority of citizens vote no, and choose to continue to throw all their glass, plastic, and paper products into the trash to be hauled away to the landfill. The alternate is for residents to drive to a recyclable drop off site, most of which are located on the outskirts of the city. Neither option is very green, even if your Pontiac Sunfire has emerald flake paint.
What me worry?
Loyal fans of this blog will remember me covering this topic in an earlier post. Well, the debate is back and citizens are once again up in arms, with a vigour that would make Louis Riel shy away. You see, to most Saskatchewaners, recyclables are GARBAGE, pure and simple. Accordingly, who in their right mind should have to pay to sort their GARBAGE and put it in a blue box on the street corner for all to see? I mean, really, who can be bothered having to sort GARBAGE! Well, not these fine commenters on the Star Phoenix website.
STOP MANDATORY RECYCLING 1:33 AM on May 7, 2011
These things will undoubtedly land in the landfill: *** GLASS, STYROFOAM, LAUNDRY SOAP CONTAINERS, SHAMPOO/CONDITIONER, MARGARINE & YOGURT CONTAINERS, etc. are still going to the landfill AFTER You put it in your recycling container! WHAT A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY!
****Also many community gardeners would appreciate Yogurt & Margarine type containers for their gardening, so they are at least reused and nearly decomposed after years of reuse!
I AGREE!
"I pay property taxes for garbage collection and I pay to use the landfill."
"I do not get paid to sort garbage for the City!"
"If recycling is so economical then why is the city not PAYING me to recycle?"
****MEMO TO CITY COUNCIL****
WE ARE ALL ALREADY PAYING MORE THAN WE SHOULD BE FOR LACK OF GOOD SERVICES!
Keep your hands out of OUR wallets!
anon148658090 10:54 PM on May 6, 2011
I pay property taxes for garbage collection and I pay to use the landfill.
I do not get paid to sort garbage for the City!
If recycling is so economical then why is the city not PAYING me to recycle.
For example, Sarcan PAYS for recycled cans because it is cheaper to make cans from recycled aluminum.
Memo to City Council - I am paying more than enough already for crappy service! Keep your hands out of my wallet!
Rick951 5:05 PM on May 6, 2011
I sure hope that there will be an opt-out for people who choose to go with services like Loraas. I will be livid if the city expects me to double pay when I will not be using their service. I have no garage and no room in my house to sort garbage, so I will definitely stick to Loraas.
On top of that, the city's ridiculous "every second week" garbage pickup in the winter makes me loathe to give them any more money to run another waste program.
anon148658090 11:39 AM on May 6, 2011
So, the City is going to hire more unionized workers to collect and sort our garbage and stiff us with the bill!
Privatize the garbage collection!
How stupid are Saskatonians anyway. We need new bridges, new roads and repair of our old crumbling roads.
But, we have a 58 million dollar art gallery, a 5 million dollar windmill, and bike paths in a city covered in snow for 6 or more months of the year.
I will rest easy knowing that the City can't balance its budget, but at least no expense has been spared on my garbage!
Alas, maybe it is I who is short sighted. After all, the Blackstrap ski hill was created from a giant mound of garbage in the middle of a field. Again, the subject of another previous blog post. Maybe the opposition to a recycling program is actually part of a long-term plan for Saskatoon to develop a new provincial-class ski resort. Saskatoon Winter 2022 Winter Olympics anyone? Talk about deja vu!
21 comments:
Wow, disturbIng to say the least. I am lost for words...stunned...
Another dumb post. There are recycling programs, just not mandatory curb side ones. One policy reason for delaying a curbside program is the present programs work well. SARCAN has one of the highest return rates for beverages in the country (http://www.saskwastereduction.ca/resources/plastics/sask-recycling.html)
This compares to say Victoria, where they dump untreated human shit and tampons in the ocean. May be the new MP for Saanich will fix that one.
Returns on deposit bottles is normally high..totally different than a curbside recycling program... Cans...paper...cardboard...plastics...etc are a vital part of recycling and saving the environment.
Also Saanich isn't Victoria...just saying
Hi. My name is Nicholas. My wife and I are shooting an unscripted fiction film about Saskatoon for two months this summer. We think you'd be a good fit for the project. Would you contact us?
productions@biseenscene.com
You can check out our stuff here: http://biseenscene.com/.
Nicholas here again. We would still like to talk to you about our film. More info here:
http://www.indiegogo.com/wherethegroundwontshake
Sorry I can't help you. But fortunately there is enough archived content on this blog for a full length trilogy. I suggest you call it Lord of the Things [That Suck]. Good luck!
I'll say one thing, you are a marvellous agitator ... and I smell "NDP troll" all over this site :) On the plus side, it looks like they may win another term in Manitoba .... maybe you could move there, if they can't re-claim B.C. from the Liberals ......
Saskatchewan cities are perceived as having high taxes. If they introduce mandatory recycling (which is fine BTW), then someone has to pay the extra cost ... guess who that will be? Then a whole new round of whining will begin .....
Contrary to what you think, the decision to introduce recycling is not a cut-and-dried as you like to think it is ("Sask bad, everyone else good").
Example? Calgary - the City on the Hill - had a heck of a battle to get this done, and I think it is still being rolled out .....
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2009/04/21/cgy-recycling-blue-cart-starts.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2011/02/23/calgary-apartment-condo-recycling-program.html
Err, most people I know in toon recycle non-returnable items, newspaper, cans, etc. There are sarcan bins everywhere. Pay pick up programs are popular.
Nice hair splitting about municipal boundaries on the south island. Most people living in Gordon Head will say they are from Victoria, not Saanich, so I am not sure it matters which city counsel likes to crap in the sea.
It is true there are somewhat more hillbillies in Saanich than Victoria proper. You can tell by the junk in the front yard of so many Saanich homes.
Victoria has more retired snobs. They bought places there not because it is nicer than towns in other temperate parts of Canada, but because it's more expensive and sounds more exclusive. Those snobby retirees do make up the bulk of the educated people there. They come from somewhere other than the island of course. Even in Vic proper, the locals are more into Big Bad John's hic bar than sushi.
Hey we are all waiting for a post about the riot. Tells us how this shows the superiority of the coast. Is it the lack of decency or self-control? Is the it willingness to beat defenceless old people? Or was it the shrewd use of social media by those who are now getting arrested for acting like jackasses on utube. Tell us what were suppose to respect here.
Did they recycle all that broken glass?
The riot was horrible and no one in Greater Vancouver is happy about it. The city and the 'burbs came together bright and early the next day and cleaned up the mess by noon. Yes, all glass and other recyclables would have been disposed of properly by law. But in the end this discussion isn't about "who is better" , it is, I believe, about doing our best to save the planet. We must use every means available to recycle, including curbside.
The point is that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. It apparently leads to even less social behavior.
In the wake of the riot, this blog seems even more ridiculous.
The name of the blog is "I hate Saskatchewan" and honestly I don't think it has anything to do with BC. You could create a blog called " I hate BC" if you like and it won't offend native British columbians because well we don't need to defend ourselves, we have quite the crush on our province. But again, this is about recycling and the longer Saskatchewan waits to have all available recycling options available the more the environment suffers and I believe your peeps deserve the best.
I found an " I hate B.C." Facebook page, there are 19 people who like it and someone posted something in 2009. Might want to check it out.
Saskatchewan is the best!..but I agree with the recycling issues. I live in a community just under an hour away from a City that I have been taking my household plastics to so that they don't end up in the dump. I found out today they go to the dump there instead of my town. I wash, rinse, dry, save and store plastic everything only to discover it is all for naught. I was floored. What's the point of collecting the stuff if it isn't being recycled. Seems like a bit of a trick to me. Made me think I was doing the right thing. Egads. I live alone and had huge bags of the stuff everytime I went. I was thinking there must be someplace that takes this stuff and started looking. I could drop them off in Regina, 3 1/2 hours away but that's not likely to happen. I've done some research and I might just start picking up everyones plastics and taking on the journey south every now and then. I love this province though - blemishes and all. You can still take a drive in the country and not run into another soul (some of us like that - if you don't then move to Alberta - it's nice too). You can take big breaths of fresh clean air - no smog advisory where I live. I have good neighbours, a big garden, friends and family who care. Tell me now, what else is there that really matters. Sounds to me like you my friend will be unhappy no matter the time or place because it's all in perspective, not in the surroundings. I hope you find your happy place - then it just won't matter where you live. Enjoy today and all that follow!
Very well said and honestly I do have my " happy place". I was born and raised in Saskatchewan and left when I was 25. I have now lived in BC for more than half my life, and it is home. I will always be a Roughrider fan and I will always miss the sense of community. But what I love here is the progressiveness. It is hard to understand why people don't get the urgency of recycling, or don't want to see change. That is why I couldn't go back to Saskatchewan , they don't welcome change or new ideas. But kudos to you for trying to do your bit with plastics, you will make a difference!
You should understand that when people talk about Loraas they are talking about their curbside pickup for 100/year. This is the solutiobn the city should use, but I doubt they will.
Could be worse - you could live in the Maritimes which is like living in a third world country! No joke. They can't even reliably get fresh produce out there. Think about it...
Highest point in Regina is the garbage dump! (According to Google earth). Regina is just rolling out bigger, not smaller but bigger garbage cans, like there was not enough room to stuff your cardboard and tins before. They are so red-necked in this province, recycle to them is throwing garbage out the Window!
You mad bro?
You mad bro?
Regina is a hole !
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