Dear editor,
It was heartening to read Nicole Bertram’s reasonable letter regarding Connor McDowell’s column about the changes to our curbside collection program.
It was also heartening and helpful to read Mayor Bob Wells’s overview of the program, which outlined the dangers, problems and issues of the wrong materials being put in the wrong bins - “cross contamination” in waste management speak.
What was not heartening was reading a second column by Mr. McDowell where he not only persisted in putting forth opinion based on little or no facts, but doubled down on his views on potential enforcement of the curbside collection program by likening it to a recent council decision not to provide a tax exemption to a church wishing to showcase a bigoted speaker.
Even when a journalist is writing an ‘opinion’ column, there should still be a responsibility to make that opinion based on fact, and not just cynicism. Critical writing isn’t just criticism; analytical thought requires analysis. And “research” based on little more than “I’ll bet that’s what’s going to happen” is useless; it’s not even good conversation.
From Mr. McDowell’s comments, I’m guessing he’s never had any experience with curbside collection in the many B.C. municipalities that have not only had automated pickup for years, but also have systems of checks and balances to make sure that the right material goes in the right place.
It’s not just about “garbage”, although Mr. McDowell seems fixated on that; it’s about keeping things from going unnecessarily into our landfills, thereby not only being better environmentally but also prolonging the life of a landfill which means taxpayers don’t have to fund new land and new landfill creation as often. We will get information about what goes where (and we have already received a lot of information on that). If we make a mistake, then that’s when the education/reminders/warnings step in. To help us know better. And if we know better and persist in not doing better, then there would be penalties. As there should be, and as there are with every bylaw and law in the country.
No local government wants to be “going through our garbage,” for heaven’s sake. They all just want us to do that right thing - and I would think we would want to do it too: be part of the solution, not continue to be part of a problem. I’m not sure why humans - or at least some humans - automatically assume that any change is going to be bad. And that any government or corporate program isn’t going to work. For the vast majority of us in the Comox Valley the vast majority of the time our lights and power work, our water comes out of our taps, our sewer systems take our waste away, our roads are useable and our services (libraries, recreation centres, parks, and more) are well-used. Those are all “government” programs, and we enjoy them every day. When a change or an improvement is made to one of them, it’s not just on a whim. It would be so much more beneficial if we would not immediately jump to a preconceived negative position and, instead, see how we can work with the plan to make it the best it can be.
Leigh Carter, Courtenay