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Posted

Read this on the Ceeb yesterday. Apparently those who study such things report that Canadians produce more garbage per capita than any other country:

Canadians use far too much energy and water, and they produce more garbage per capita than any other country on earth

I have long known about trucks moving tonnes of Canadian garbage to American landfills (now less so), but the amount generated per capita is a mild surprise. High energy use per capita is a given, but is that related to consumption and garbage ?

hi-christie-garbage.jpg

Economics trumps Virtue. 

 

Posted

From the article .....

The board gives Canadians credit for some progress on the water issue in their day to day lives — Canadian people cut their water use from 335 litres per day in 2001 to 327 litres per day in 2006, but increased use from industries caused far more water to be consumed in the country overall.

If corporations use large amounts of water, then I would actually say they are the largest producers of garbage compared to the average person. If we reduce waste on the corporate and government levels this would not be an issue.

Posted

So what's the deal? Less recycling programs? Some time ago here at MLW, a member reported that some Canadians still stand in line to return bottles for their deposit. I only have bit and pieces of data to work with...like "milk bags" instead of plastic bottles (e.g. PTFE).

Economics trumps Virtue. 

 

Posted

So what's the deal? Less recycling programs? Some time ago here at MLW, a member reported that some Canadians still stand in line to return bottles for their deposit. I only have bit and pieces of data to work with...like "milk bags" instead of plastic bottles (e.g. PTFE).

The standing in line is at the beer store where the bottles are accepted. Something I may have to do tonight, since I have a few empties to return. It's not that big of a deal.

Infective recycling programs. Government mandated waste/recycling programs that are also not working as expected, yet they continue these programs. The green bin is a perfect example of government waste for a project that never needed to exist. Where does that stuff go anyways?

Posted

We win, we win!!! In your face America!

"Our lives begin to end the day we stay silent about the things that matter." - Martin Luther King Jr
"Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities" - Voltaire

Posted

Best results too...98% of all bottles are recycled

Recycling is still a "dirty word" in my resource-based city and participating makes one somewhat akin to bums in many folks eyes. Folks go so far as to throw away their cans...throwing away the money for the privilege of being "better". I doubt this is unique to my city.

Posted

Best results too...98% of all bottles are recycled

Bottles, cans, packaging, bottle caps, all accepted, and all recycled. If anyone else wants to look at a great combination between goods and recycling, the beer stores have been the best at this, and for a few decades at least.

Posted

Recycling is still a "dirty word" in my resource-based city and participating makes one somewhat akin to bums in many folks eyes. Folks go so far as to throw away their cans...throwing away the money for the privilege of being "better". I doubt this is unique to my city.

I recall one time at a friends place, we did a huge run of the empties that were stored in his closet off his kitchen. We managed to buy a keg w/deposit and the pump. That was one freakin great party. Everyone had already invested in the party from parties past!

Posted

Recycling is still a "dirty word" in my resource-based city and participating makes one somewhat akin to bums in many folks eyes. Folks go so far as to throw away their cans...throwing away the money for the privilege of being "better". I doubt this is unique to my city.

Weird isnt it?

Thankfully, I am glad that some people tossed bottles out the car window when I was a kid. If no for them, I would not have been able to get a popsicle!

Hey...5 cents is 5 cents and I had no problem grovelling the cottage road ditches in search of bottle to fuel my days.

Posted

We're number one, we're number one...Oh. Well, the Americans do it toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

This was about to happen eventually in this thread .. it makes me giggle a bit that we did not have to wait until page two.

Posted

Why should it always just go the other way?

Because when that does not happen, we get thread drift, derailment into some tangent not even related to the thread. Even when others try to stay within the confines of the thread's topic, there are others like the person who created this thread, who work hard to derail it.

Posted

Recycling is still a "dirty word" in my resource-based city and participating makes one somewhat akin to bums in many folks eyes. Folks go so far as to throw away their cans...throwing away the money for the privilege of being "better". I doubt this is unique to my city.

Thankfully, I am glad that some people tossed bottles out the car window when I was a kid. If no for them, I would not have been able to get a popsicle!

They do that here too. It's quite surprising how much drinking and driving goes on judging by the beer cans you see along the roadside.

Some people fill garbage bags with them

Posted

I recall one time at a friends place, we did a huge run of the empties that were stored in his closet off his kitchen. We managed to buy a keg w/deposit and the pump. That was one freakin great party. Everyone had already invested in the party from parties past!

Weird isnt it?

Thankfully, I am glad that some people tossed bottles out the car window when I was a kid. If no for them, I would not have been able to get a popsicle!

Hey...5 cents is 5 cents and I had no problem grovelling the cottage road ditches in search of bottle to fuel my days.

Cans are but a small part of the recycling problem. Paper, by far, fills the landfill here the most. I'm amazed that even with free paper/cardboard recycling, our city heaves out so much. None the less...it is a very clean city.

Posted

They do that here too. It's quite surprising how much drinking and driving goes on judging by the beer cans you see along the roadside.

Some people fill garbage bags with them

That's part of the image problem around here. Scruffy looking dudes with huge bags of cans. But, in my opinion, I'd rather that than sucking welfare.

Guest American Woman
Posted
They do that here too. It's quite surprising how much drinking and driving goes on judging by the beer cans you see along the roadside.

Some people fill garbage bags with them

There's a 10 cent deposit on cans in my state - it's effective, too. I never see cans along the roadside. I never see cans thrown anywhere. Plastic water bottles are another story - no deposit on those.

Posted
So what's the deal? Less recycling programs?

no - this particular metric within the study includes all 'waste', whether intended for landfill, incineration... or ultimately recycled. The metric includes pre-recycling materials because of the energy/water required for recycling... apparently... regardless of (whatever) efficiency may exist within a respective recycling operation.

this thread appeared to have all the makings of another of your attempted "Canada is last/worst' obsessions (in most/particular, relative to the 'USA, USA, USA'!)... but you upped and went all quiet. Perhaps you subsequently went beyond your OP link and looked at the actual underlying study metrics and individual/overall report card ratings, hey?

env-tb1a-2012.pngenv-main-tb1a-2012.png

Posted

This "thread" merely reports an observed article from the CBC, Canada's state sponsored and controlled broad/webcaster. The world has long known that Canada consumes more energy per capita than most other nations, but now it appears that there is more on the waste side as well.

The underlying reasons for this are more interesting than shooting the messenger. Maybe it is all those "milk bags" after all.

Economics trumps Virtue. 

 

Posted

There's a 10 cent deposit on cans in my state - it's effective, too. I never see cans along the roadside. I never see cans thrown anywhere. Plastic water bottles are another story - no deposit on those.

Same here...10 cents on beer cans...5 cents on pop cans. Plastic water bottles are a curse. Our tap water is delicious and yet folks want 'spring water' or are frightened of fluoride. Next to cotton undies, fluoride has done more to extend human health than almost anything else.

Posted

Same here...10 cents on beer cans...5 cents on pop cans.....

So do all retailers have to accept returns on the deposit containers ? Are there vending machines or other automation to do this? I remember collecting and returning bottles many years ago (1960's), complete with stacked wooden storage cases (no plastic). My wife and her sisters would steal returned bottles and turn them in again and again !

Economics trumps Virtue. 

 

Posted (edited)

So do all retailers have to accept returns on the deposit containers ? Are there vending machines or other automation to do this? I remember collecting and returning bottles many years ago (1960's), complete with stacked wooden storage cases (no plastic). My wife and her sisters would steal returned bottles and turn them in again and again !

Few retailers will allow more than token returns. Some beer stores allow up to 48 cans...after that...it's off to the bottle/can depot but they do not give full deposit back...of course. The major grocery stores are supposed to take back their products, but make it very inconvenient to discourage actual use. We have quite the collection of 2 litre plastic bottles due to this.

Edited by DogOnPorch

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