Editor: I was at the Town council meeting last Tuesday to hear and support the presentation on organics recycling by CORE (Canmore Organics REcycling) and was disappointed by the reaction from council.
Since we cannot do outdoor backyard composting in Canmore, there needs to be another viable option.
CORE asked the Town to do a comprehensive study of options for organic diversion in 2018.
The garburator study is only one of many possibilities, not a study on all the options. It is not composting or recycling. It pushes the organics down to the water treatment facility
Town funds are allotted for a 2018 study, but if the Town can come up with $200,000 to study the Olympic bid, then surely we can come up with $5-10,000 to do a decent study on municipal organics options for Canmore. The CORE people have already done a chunk of this work, and would probably do more with encouragement from council.
Worms. Vermicomposting. Yes, I have employed worms myself, but I’m a keener. Worms require an educated caregiver. They don’t have the capacity to deal with all the organics I produce and take up space that I don’t have. They are living beings that require care and maintenance. It is work to look after them. Worms are not a solution for municipal scale organics. On a municipal level, it has to be easy and convenient. Worms are not that.
The Town has identified waste stream reduction and organics recycling in three documents since 2002. Isn’t it high time we acted as just about all other communities, including Banff, have done? We are not showing leadership as a green community. We are far behind.
I applaud the work and commitment of CORE. They are a dedicated group of about 14 volunteers (and growing). They met with Town administration in 2016 and when they asked to present to council in January 2017, they were asked to wait a year in order to be closer to the next planning budget.
They have chosen to be collaborative, professional and positive in working with council, but it appears to me that council is brushing them off and not approaching the issue of organics recycling seriously.
This was an election issue and I’d like council to be accountable to the commitment to make organics recycling a priority. Council needs to do a comprehensive study in 2018 and commit to implementing an organics recycling program by 2020.
Judy Archer,
Canmore
