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Cf PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday. August 3, 1988 -- 7 Viewpoint by John B. McClelland THE CRISIS IS NOW The numbers are numbing, boggling to the mind, but they are real. 9 Dogging When Durham Region was formed back in the early 70's, it was given the legal responsibility for the disposal of solid waste, otherwise known as good old fashioned garbage. The Region these days may be wishing that the provincial legislation had left garbage disposal with the local municipalities. Why? Because Durham Region is in the middle of a crisis, a crisis of what to do with its garbage, some 285,000 tonnes of the stuff each year and expected to increase by a further 100,000 tonnes by the turn of the century. Here it is the middle of 1988, and in three or four short years, Durham may not have a place to dump its garbage. For residents of Scugog Township, by the way, the crunch is arriving sooner, next spring, when the dump just west of the Scugog Arena will be closed for good. But that's a relatively minor problem compared to the "big picture."Virtually of all the garbage from Durham is now being dumped in a landfill owned and operated by Metro Toronto, but located in Pick- ering. That dump will be shut in two years or so. When that day arrives, the situation will be very serious. At the moment Metro is scrambling to find an "interim" dump site for up to five years, a kind of stop-gap until a permanent dump can be found and opened. Likely, Durham will also make use of that "interim dump," largely because there is a good chance that Metro will select an interim site some- where within Durham boundaries. But back to what we are faced with in getting rid of all the trash we generate each day. A consultant now working for Durham rolled out some "ball park" numbers at a long meeting of Re- gional council last week. To find and open a 120acre land fill site would cost $20 million, if it clears hearings under the Envi- rontal Assessment Act. To open an Energy from Waste incinerator ca- pable of handling 364 tonnes per day (about 30 per cent of the trash generated in the Region) would cost $45 million, and about $4 million yearly to oper- ate. To open an incinerator to burn 2,000 tonnes per day, the cost is $220 million, plus $20 million in annual operating expenses. If the Region is to open a landfill only (without an incinerator) it would need 150 acres with a iife span of 20-25 years, and that is assuming that recycling handles 25 per cent of the garbage. The garbage crunch has caught us un- prepared. While we may want to point the finger at the politicians and accuse them of being asleep at the switch, we really have nobody to blame but our- selves. Three decades of "throw-away consumerism" are coming home to roost. Why, for example, are liquor and wine makers al- lowed to peddle their products in non-refundable bottles? Same with soft drinks in cans. Why do we get our groceries in plastic bags, rather than paper ones? Same with milk, instead of bottles, it now comes in throw-away plastic. Remember when empty milk bottles were left or: the front porch and picked up by the milkman? Meat comes wrapped in plastic, sitting on styro- foam trays. The list of food products wrapped in plastic is endless. How many millions of tonnes are simply thown away each year across Canada? These days, empty liquor and wine bottles can be recycled. Likewise with all glass containers and aluminum cans. Not so with many plastics. They end up in the ground. Why is that the packaging on many consumer products is worth more than the product inside? Convenience is the main reason, of course. It is more convenient to have our products arrive in nice packages that can simply be thrown away. It would e most inconvenient if we had to use the same pa- per bags over and over again for groceries; or we had to bring our milk bottles back to the store for re- use. But that is what we may be faced with in the next three decades. We are going to have to change our throw-away habits, and it's going to be costly and in- convenient. But we have no choice if we don't leave a garbage choked planet to our grandchil- dren. Environmentalists have been sounding the warning for years. We laughed at their eccentricity, happily throwing away everything after using once. Now, the laugh's on all of us. Get your wallets out and get ready for some old-fashioned inconven- ience. And remember that in 1988, some people are laughing at warnings that the ozone layer is dis- appearing. In 30 years, we'll see who's laughing. Yesterday's Memories 70 YEARS AGO Thursday, August 1, 1918 Miss B.G. Pollard, lady superintendent in Brooklin Hospital and Mr. and Mrs. J.S. Beaton of Oshawa, spent Sunday with Dr. G.L. Robson, at Evergreen Cottage, Reach. Mr. T.H. Follick, who is attending a course in Agriculture at Guelph College, is expected home on Saturday, August 3. During an electrical storm Monday afternoon, the barn on the farm of Mrs. Brown at the Head, Scugog Island, was struck and fired by lightening and burned to the ground together with its contents. The following candidates have passed the Middle School Nor- mal Entrance examinations: Ewart Bunner, Helen Cryderman, Aleta Ferguson, John Harris, Douglas Lucas, Olive Wallace. 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, July 29, 1943 Leading Aircraftsman, Michael Wood has received his wings in England and is now a Flight Engineer posted with a Halifax bomber squadron. Dr. J.B. Lundy is holidaying this week at Rest Point Lodge in the Haliburton Highlands. Mrs. McCaw and daughter of St. Petersburg, Florida are visiting relatives in Port Perry for the summer. Wilfred Bowles, a well-known farmer-lawyer of Cartwright Township and President of Durham County Federation of Agriculture consented to contest the Durham riding on behalf of the C.C.F. organization. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, July 30, 1953 Mr. and Mrs. Albert Heaslip of Janetville were honoured at their daughter's home, Mr. & Mrs. Robert Wright, Janetville, on the occasion of their 62nd Wedding Anniversary. Mr. Herbert Payne of Seagrave has bought the Webster Transport business. He will operate under the same name and offers for sale, hay, straw and baled shavings. Congratulations to Joanne Mosienko, who passed her music exams - Piano, Grade IX (honours), Grade III, History (Pass). 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, July 31, 1958 Mr. Mac Christie, Manchester, is building a new house on the farm. Mr. and Mrs. W.J. Martyn and Mr. and Mrs. W.E. Martyn, Bruce and Marion were all guests at the Wanamaker-Reynolds wedding in Seagrave on Saturday. Mrs. W.J. Cook of Myrtle, a former resident on the second (Turn to page 10) =etters Heat threatens unborn child To The Editor: I am writing this letter to open the eyes of your readers to an ongoing problem with our township offices, local superinten- dants/owners & store merchants. You see, I have recently discovered that I am expecting my second child. My husband & I are very happy, but don't con- gratulate me yet, as every day that I livein my apartment, I am risking the health of my unborn child. I live with my husband & my son Darryl at 16A Water St., directly above Barry's Variety. Two months ago, Barry Townsend decided to remodel his store. He moved the pop coolers from the back of his store over to the north wall. He has 7 coolers (6 double & 1 triple) & has the tiles tipped upwards on a slant towards the ceiling. Now comes the dangerous part. These 7 coolers blow hot air, as much air as the back of an air- conditioner each, travelling up- wards and the hot air is trapped bet- ween the ceiling tiles and my floors. Since everyone knows that hot air rises, you can probably guess what I'm about to say. I have tried to talk to Mr. Townsend about this, and his reply was that I should buy an air- conditioner, which I did, at my ex- pense. Now my apartment with the air-conditioner running 24 hrs. dai- ly, is from 85° F - 100° F, with one day being 104° F'. I have lived here for 4 yrs. in the same apartment and never had this problem until now. I have contacted my superinten- dant, Bette Ireland, who has in turn related the problem to the owner of the building, Mr. Peter Quan of Unionville, but to no avail. My doctor has been informed several times about this condition and he has told me that it is en- dangering the health of my un- born child, not to mention my hus- band & son's health. I have had no. luck in getting any assistance from the township office as they - tell me that this is a by-law pro- blem to which Port Perry has no by-law officer. On the advice of Dr. Puckrin, I have phoned the Health Dept., and they said they would inspect the store and my apartment. This was 2 weeks ago and no-one has shown up to do so, to this date. I have been terribly sick from this heat and on several occasions have had to visit the hospital and on one occasion was transported by ambulance. I don't know what else to do. I have tried to get help, but no-one is willing to help me. If anyone knows where or whom I should be pushed to next, please let me know. I am at the desperate stage. After all, is it not a mother's natural instinct to protect her children? Sincerely, Mrs. Gloria Pollard, Port Perry. Smokers need rights To The Editor: : We are a newly formed organization, attempting to secure amendments to many of the recent by-laws concerning smoking. We are considerate, responsi- ble, taxpaying citizens, who feel the present by-laws contravene all democratic rights and principles. We do not wish to offend non- smokers who are truly bothered by second hand smoke, nor do we wish to argue that smoking is good for you. We would point out that smok- ing is recognized as an addiction, by the World Health Organiza- tion, and as long as smoking con- tinues to be a legal product, smokers must be given consideration. Toronto has recently passed a "Smoking in the Workplace" by- law, smoking has been banned on buses, and on airline flights of less than two hours. Hospitals are making patients stand outside, regardless of the weather, in order to smoke. Many govern- ment offices, where we are forc- ed to wait for hours on end, have banned smoking. We feel that there are many other factors contributing to many of today's ills, including automobile emissions, toxic waste dumping, acid rain, and general pollution, however, these things are ignored by the government. Since smokers are a largely unorganized, unrepresented group in the government, they have quietly decided to place the ills of the world on our shoulders. It is time for smokers and sym- pathetic non-smokers to show their leaders that they do object to what is going on. We are presently collecting names on petitions, in order to present them to our politicians, and if you would be interested in signing, or having a petition sent to you, we would ask that you drop us a line. Don't forget to in- (Turn to page 8)