To the Editor:
According to officials in St. Paul, Edmonton is unable to recycle everything that goes into their blue bin system. After conducting a little research, I found out that this is correct. Now, not everything can be recycled, but Edmonton manages to find an alternative to the landfill for 65 per cent of its diverted waste. Not all of this is recycling of course, but they are using creative ideas to deal with their waste management issues. Are we doing the same?
A great deal of Edmonton’s residential waste is composted and/or made into biofuel. As a part of the Alberta Teachers’ Convention, I was fortunate to be able to attend a tour of the Edmonton Waste Management Centre. According to the information presented in this tour, Edmonton Waste Management has plans to construct another wing for its plant that will help decrease the amount of waste going to the landfill to only 10 per cent. They also recycle basically most of the electronics for Western Canada.
This brings us to the subject of markets. It seems Edmonton takes at least certain types of plastics, cans, and glass. How do they have a market and we cannot find one? If some plastics cannot be recycled, that is understandable, but at least try to find a way to deal with what can be recycled. I am glad to hear that at least we appear to have kept tin at St. Paul’s recycling station. This is a positive step.
I understand that small communities face budget issues regarding these matters. Our tour leader admitted that recycling is difficult for a small community and I asked him what are the options for a place like St. Paul. He replied in one simple word: Consolidation. Work together with other communities and keep the communication open. Perhaps St. Paul could work together with communities such as Elk Point, St. Vincent, and Bonnyville to help open up previously closed doors on the subject of recycling and all around better waste management.
In response to my questions, Town of St. Paul CAO Ron Boisvert replied he was hired to make “sound financial decisions.” I have said this before, but again, there is more to government than simply economy. In a letter to the St. Paul Journal on Feb. 22, Scott MacDougall makes an excellent point regarding “single bottom line” thinking. The Town of St. Paul needs to seek creative and progressive methods for dealing with waste management issues. Mr. Boisvert claims officials are working toward solutions and that they are open to new ideas. I hope to see evidence of this belief.
On a final note, this problem of waste and consumerism surely does not lie with government alone. People can help by learning to stay away from products or activities that create unnecessary waste. On the waste management tour, our guide implored that people stay away from two simple environmental pitfalls: 1) don't buy Styrofoam and 2) don't bag your grass in the spring, but leave it on the lawn instead.
If we can ask more of our government regarding solutions to waste management, then we can also ask more of ourselves.
Shane Larmand
St. Paul
