Newspaper Clippings: The taller the trash pile, the better

I tip my hat to Ian Gillespie, columnist for The London Free Press, for saying what I was thinking (well, almost) about grievances from local residents related to Toronto’s trash.

(Ian. G.’s full article here.)

Yes, Toronto produces a lot of trash, dozens of truckloads per day will enter a landfill site in our backyard, our sight lines along the 401 will change and the smell SW of town will ripen.

But Ian rightfully nails our complaints to the wall.

He says:

“London, we should remember, is the city that’s ranked 10th out of 12 larger urban centres in Ontario in terms of waste diversion.”


[Fresh Kills landfill: "On a clear day you can smell for miles"]

In other words, if we’re going to complain about sight lines, look closer to home.

Ian says:

“When it comes to trash, nobody does the “out of sight, out of mind” attitude better than London.”

“We refuse to take any real responsibility for limiting our waste, and we’re shocked when another city does the same.”

“And here’s the kicker: London did almost the identical thing about 30 years ago when the city disregarded objections from the annexed township of Westminster and built a giant landfill site there.” (Jan. 5, London Free Press)

All fair and good observations.

In my humble opinion, the taller the pile of Toronto trash the better. If it one day rivals the (now-closed) Fresh Kills landfill site on Staten Island, N.Y., fine.

Maybe then we’ll take notice of our own trashy habits, excessive consumption levels, and endless waste.

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What’s that smell?

I don’t always compliment articles in the local paper, like a recent one that rips the public sector. Click here for the whole kit and caboodle.

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