Recycling was the top priority at Meadow Lake's city council meeting on Monday evening.
Reducing, reusing, and recycling waste in the city of Meadow Lake was brought forward by councilor Terry Paylor at Monday's council meeting.
"We want to make recycling accessible to our city," said Paylor.
Two years ago the Rural Municipality of Meadow Lake decided to build a regional landfill near Rapid View where people from the area would be required to bring their garbage. Lamon Disposal, the local waste management company, offered to drive to rural areas for an expensive fee. Other business were also started because of the distance to the landfill for so many rural residents.
Due to complaints from the Rural Municipality the city has decided to look into other options of waste management such as a more comprehensive recycling program.
"Recylce! Waste in landfills release a lot of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming," said b_paperless on Twitter.
Lamon Disposal offered a couple of options to city council during the meeting. Lamon said they are unable to recycle certain items but are willing to offer better programs for cardboard and paper products.
According to the City of Edmonton web site they have become one of the national leaders in sustainable waste management.
"I think it is a very important mandate for any organization or community to have," said Aden Cruz, a student at Grant MacEwan university in Edmonton.
Although it will take some time for Meadow Lake to develop a system as well organized as Edmonton, Meadow Lake city council has promised to have a decision on Lamon's proposal for recycling within the next couple of months.
Note image from http://www.scrd.ca/files/Image/Solid%20Waste/landfill%20bulldozer-1.jpg
resources: Meadow Lake Progress: "City council breifs"
Background
Meadow Lake,SK, is a small city of 5,000 people which has a large farming history. Most of the older people who moved to the area were pioneers of the time. They broke the land and set up a livable farming area. The local museum is comprised of old farm machinery. It is not unusual to see a tractor stopped at the local McDonald's in the summer time. Although it is a strong farming community, Meadow Lake is also a leader in the forestry industry. A pulp mill and OSB plant supply a large number of jobs for the area.
Surrounding forest and lakes supply recreation for the towns folks throughout the year. Ice fishing and hunting are popular in the winter and swimming and fishing are popular in the summer. During the summer season toursits supply a large amount of business to Meadow Lake, SK.
Although it may seem like a picturesque town, there are also issues which the town is debating. Garbage collection and recycling is a major issue in the town right now. Two years ago the town began a regional landfill which covered a large land area. With so many kilometeres in the jurisdiction people began to revolt against the idea. In recent city council talks Lamon Disposal (the local Waste Management company) proposed a recycling plan which has yet to be approved by the city.
No comments:
Post a Comment