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Reporting Municipal Trash -- A Tale of Competition or Schizophrenia? |
We Canadians share one thing in common about our garbage - we do not want it. Whether it is a package left over from a product we purchased or yesterday's newspaper, once we deem it a waste - we want to get rid of it. Yet, we are reluctant, even unwilling, to share information about how much we've got or exactly what it is.
What makes us so perverse about coming clean on our waste? Is it that we subconsciously imagine that if we hold the nature of waste confidential, it will make it mysterious and somehow more valuable? Is there a competitive advantage that one municipality will have over another if information is withheld? Will someone pay more for the "privilege" of secreting or taking away waste? I don't think so. The ecological reality is that there is no such thing as "throw it away" and the financial fact is that waste diversion and disposal is a service provided to the householder.
The unearthing of things buried a while ago by archaeologist Bill Rathje gained the media's attention in the early 90s. He demonstrated just how exposed our lives are by the act of disposal. An archaeologist's dream is to uncover a midden - natural depressions in land, which were filled in with the discards of an ancient society.
Trash can tell us so much about a society - it can conjure up images of the culture, the level of sophistication of a society, and present a material profile of the technology used. Take a tour through a MRF today and you can see old bills with account numbers or discarded love letters.
Much can be said about the human behaviour of a society from the "back end". So what have we got to hide? Will the trash trail reveal that Canadians have multiple personalities? Will it show we are hiding a wealth in waste?
I recognize that there is concern that coming up with consistency for reporting may downplay demographics, which can be as imposing as the diversity of our geography on the description of our waste. However, a mixture of some intellectual honesty, consideration for all positions, and a modicum of dedication may allow us to develop a reporting system that fast forwards our efforts for sustainability. It would be unfortunate if the efforts underway to make waste management concepts and definitions consistent were wasted. There is no history when there is no future.
Doug Symington represents Consumers Glass interests in Public Affairs.
He is available at 905-892-9212, by fax at 905-892-9213
or by e-mail: dsymingt@consumersglass.com
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