SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | Landfill or incinerator? Do we put our garbage into our air supply or into our water table? Should we drink our toxins or breathe them in? Each partisan of the garbage issue insists on our responses, but how can we answer such questions?

We can answer Socratically, by asking another question: Why are we producing so much waste in the first place? Can't we reduce the amount of garbage before we figure out what to do with it?

It is the sheer volume that is so dangerous, not the technologies of disposal. So it is surprising when we hear this debate -- say, about the proposal for a mega-landfill upstream from us near Danford Lake, or to build an incinerator in Gatineau or in the Pontiac - that we don't first hear more about reducing the tonnage.

In fact, we hear the opposite. Our leaders tell us to shop our way out of the recession, and the media is revolting in its enthusiasm for buy, buy, buying. That's the biggest message all around. Yet it is the mountains of stuff -- packaging, in particular -- that are swamping our dumps.

And we naively expect these leaders and this media to lead us away from climate disaster, as well as to protect our air and water.

If we bought less, but bought smarter, we'd all be better off. There'd still be the jobs, from manufacturing to retailing, and we'd still get the things we need, from furniture to canned soup. None of this is rocket science, and our leaders and our media are deceiving us by not explaining the real options we face and the choices we have.

More positive things can be done, besides getting information out and building public optimism.

Recycling and re-use are such obvious ways to reduce waste and slow the destruction of resources that it is criminal to have it ignored in so many places. It is stunning to walk into the photocopy room in a school, a government office, or big business almost anywhere in West Quebec and see the paper being wasted and sent to the landfill. Many of the malls and commercial buildings here have no recycling capacity, except maybe for cardboard. How can a school have not one recycling container?

Photocopiers and printers that will not accept recycled paper shouldn't be purchased or leased, period. Would we lease a car that belched exhaust like a diesel truck?

Municipal governments could also do more to promote the idea and the healthiness of recycling and re-using. Libraries, schools, the media, we could design our contests, reading lists, resolutions -- whatever -- on building a consciousness of recycling. Too many people still don't pause the moment it takes to think about disposing of their water bottle, pop can, or newspaper.

Making recycling accessible is key: every public place should have recycling containers beside the trashcans. Recycling even creates jobs, right?

There are millions of ideas and acts of green that can make the choice between landfill or incinerator easier to approach. Most start with cutting the volumes to be treated, and that starts by looking into our own garbage cans.

---

Copyright © 2009 Fred Ryan/Log Cabin Chronicles/04.09