Editor:
There is literally nothing I can buy that is not encapsulated or bottled in plastic in one form or another. Removing it is not for the faint of heart and often demands four-syllable words in the process. Even some of my booze is in plastic bottles.
Weekly recycling and garbage disposal has been a blemish on my Sunday afternoon for years in keeping with Monday morning collection. During the week I find myself separating recyclables in small waste containers located strategically throughout the house and on Sunday, to save the Earth, I empty them into the main authorized disposal units.
I compact them as well as possible, newspapers in blue, other paper and small cardboard in yellow and so on. That’s all great and sounds simple but that is not what is expected of me throughout the week as I use and dispose of various products.
Containers with any residual food in them are “contaminated” and should be washed or put through the dishwasher and then dried and put in the correct recyclable waste bin. Serviettes with any stains on them are garbage so I separate and examine them individually. Public media has told me that some plastics are waste and it’s up to me to determine which is which.
Perhaps it’s my advanced years but I would be dishonest if I said there is a justified rationale to the entire process and the time it takes throughout the week. Using rough math, it only costs me as a taxpayer approximately $13 for each pickup and perhaps 10 minutes a day, however, if done correctly it would take much more time.
So multiplied by 52 weeks, this means I spend up to two working weeks a year contending with garbage. This then sits on the curb overnight hoping the raccoons are not inquisitive and that it’s picked up and dumped entirely on Monday.
This, of course, is a must, but I read 91 per cent of the plastics are not recyclable. Asian countries no longer take our trash. Added to this a very small percentage of our trash is recycled. So why am I separating and then conjugating the garbage when it’s of debatable benefit to the environment and our community? Further to this, why is the onus not on the manufacturers and retailers to minimize their use of plastics?
Just as confusing and less encouraging is Metro Vancouver’s current integrated Solid Waste and Resource Management Plan whereby approximately 46 per cent by weight of the single-family and multi-family waste is diverted. Obviously improving and better than nothing, but what is happening to 91 per cent of the plastic I throw away and 54 per cent of the garbage that is not diverted?
Will the future demand I spend more time sorting garbage or can I simply throw it away?
Bohdan Zabolotniuk
