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6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday December 26, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. NEIL OLIVER Publisher DAVID HARVEY General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA ANCHOR Circ. Manager Pushing the GreenCart While many of us will be spending today (Boxing Day) sorting holiday gift boxes, bags and wrapping paper into recyclable and non-recyclable piles, we hope everyone is preparing for the next step in Halton's waste reduction plan -- the GreenCart. Early in 2008, the region plans to begin a new chapter in waste reduction. According to Halton's website (www.halton.ca) the GreenCart is like a Blue Box that is used for your kitchen scraps -- including fruits and vegetables, meat, bones, dairy, rice and breads -- paper towels, coffee grounds and more. These materials can be collected at the curb in the GreenCart, instead of sent off to the landfill in a garbage bag. The region reports that approximately 45 per cent of the average Halton household garbage bag contains food scraps and other organic material that could be easily turned back into compost. The region-wide implementation of the GreenCart program is a key initiative to achieving the 60 per cent waste diversion goal outlined in Halton's 2006-2010 Solid Waste Management Strategy. Most Halton homes should receive one of about 140,000 GreenCarts by the end of March, with full implementation of the new collection program expected to launch in April. GreenCart materials will be processed by a state-of-the-art facility at Hamilton's AIM Waste Management, which has signed a four-year contract with the region at a cost of $2.2 million. The GreenCart's arrival, as well as improvements to the Blue Box recycling program -- including a switch to weekly pickup instead of once every two weeks -- plus less frequent garbage collection and a restriction on the number of garbage bags that can be put out each pickup period are expected to extend the life of the region's landfill site by about 4-6 years. The arrival of the GreenCart program serves as a timely reminder that we can no longer afford to live a disposable lifestyle. For more information on the Halton GreenCart program, visit www.halton.ca/ppw/waste/greencart/de fault.htm. The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Better way to clear streets than dumping snow in driveways This letter serves to address the hazards that snow ploughs cause when they dump snow from the street onto the residents' driveways. Particularly, when the snow has turned to ice. With the technology and resources available today, I don't think this is something that residents should have to deal with. In Toronto, for instance, the ploughs have the capability of removing the snow windrow from residents' driveways. I don't see why this cannot be instituted as a norm in Oakville. Our taxes have gone up consistently in the past several years, and this should be taken care of by the Town. There have been several incidents of residents suffering heart conditions, etc., due to this inhumane condition imposed on us by the Town. We invested in a snow blower a couple of years ago, and have no problem taking care of our driveway, and the sidewalk in front of our home, even in the fiercest of storms. The dreaded moment comes when the snow plough comes in 10 hours later and dumps the heavy hard ice from the street in front of our driveway and literally blocks us in. If there was an emergency and we had to leave our home in a hurry, there would be no way out. I am aware that the city has started the so-called Driveway Snow Windrow Removal Program For Seniors and the Physically Challenged -- sort of a patchup operation, which does not do the majority of residents any good. There are a couple of options that the Town could consider. ·Implement the proper technology to take care of the problem, without dumping ice/snow from the streets onto residents' driveway. It would be a good idea to put our tax dollars to proper use here. ·If the Town is not efficient enough to come up with a solution, rebate the tax payers, so we can hire independent contractors to take care of the windrow ourselves. VALENCIA PEREIRA Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-3401981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.