Preville on Politics
When every home is a waste-transfer station
Posted on February 8, 2008 by Philip Preville
I was wondering when someone was going to complain about these. A city that prides itself on its high density, and on its willingness to intensify further still, is issuing trash and recycling bins designed for suburbia. The big ones are the size of condos themselves.
The inelegance of the new trash and recycling bins wouldn’t be such a problem if they were easy to hide, but they’re not. Even the smallest recycling bin screams “heavy industry.” Cabbagetown’s front porches will look like a series of waste-transfer stations. I live in a house with little frontage and no direct access to the back yard. Currently I keep my recycling bins in the basement, since their handy size makes it easy to lug them out front, even when laden with two weeks’ worth of newspapers. I have no idea where I am going to keep these new monstrosities. Apparently people can make arrangements for something more convenient, provided they can convince the city that their situation merits special attention. So we can all look forward to our day in garbage court.
Anyway, in case you have not yet thought through the ramifications of this new garbage pricing scheme, here’s a tip: at some point in the next few months, you must conduct the most ruthless spring cleaning you’ve ever done in your life. Sell everything you can on Craigslist and pitch out the boxes of tchotchkes and high school trophies and everything else you’ve been hoarding in the mistaken belief that you or someone else might one day find the stuff interesting or useful. Because it’s your last chance to landfill it free of charge.
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Philip Preville
Veteran freelance writer Philip Preville lived much of his life in Montreal and Edmonton before he was lured, like so many Torontonians before him, by the promise of more work and a better living. A National Magazine Award winner and former Canadian Journalism Fellow at the University of Toronto’s Massey College, Preville writes Toronto Life’s politics column. He lives with his wife and one-year-old son in Riverdale, just close enough to the Don Valley Parkway that he can hear it when he steps outside his house—but just far enough away that it doesn’t keep him awake at night. On his office wall hangs a 1938–39 press pass belonging to his grandfather, Elias Gannon, who wrote for the Montreal Star.
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Comments
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Sarah Shorten February 11, 2008 at 9:44 a.m.
Don't landfill your all your trash- what could be valuable to someone else give to Goodwill and Salvation Army.
These bins are ridiculous. They generate more garbage- by replacing bins that work- and they force me, as an already environmentally conscious homeowner- to buy a bigger bin than I would ever need. They ran the pilot project for these bins in Cabbagetown- and the bin was bigger than my elderly, sick aunt. It was offensive to see what she had to lug down to the curb, and ugly to see the bin in front of her house as she could not cart it to the back of her house.
I am so angry and tired with this City Council, and their inability to think three steps ahead to see that they are creating more plastic waste through these poorly designed bins, antagonizing homeowners (who as a general rule recycle well), encouraging dumping on other people's property, and making recycling more difficult. This is one issue that needs to be streamlined- we all need to recycle carefully- why are the Councillors unnecessarily complicating this?
I am also angry about this hidden $151 tax for the smallest bin- which was never discussed as part of our property tax hike.
Sarah Shorten February 11, 2008 at 10:01 a.m.
Don't landfill your all your trash- what could be valuable to someone else give to Goodwill and the Salvation Army to create jobs.
These bins are ridiculous. They generate more garbage- by replacing bins that work- and they force me, as an already environmentally conscious homeowner- to use a bigger bin than I would ever need, even at the smallest size . They ran the pilot project for these bins in Cabbagetown- and the bin was bigger than my elderly, sick aunt. It was offensive to see what she had to lug down to the curb, and ugly to see the bin in front of her house as she could not cart it to the back of her house.
I am so angry and tired with this City Council, and their inability to think three steps ahead to see that they are creating more plastic waste through these poorly designed bins, antagonizing homeowners (who as a general rule recycle well), encouraging dumping on other people's property, and making recycling more difficult. This is one issue that needs to be streamlined- we all need to recycle carefully- why are the Councillors unnecessarily complicating this?
I am also angry about this hidden $151 tax for the largest bins- which was never discussed as part of our property tax hike.
Mark Dowling February 11, 2008 at 3:16 p.m.
My concern is that the way this scheme is being implemented will divide previously harmonious neighbourhoods as residents dump trash in neighbours bins' when their own fill up and other shenanigans ensue. The recycling plant for polystyrene closing should have caused a deferral of this scheme but then where would the revenue come from?