City should provide cloth bags
Sir: I am not an environmental activist nor am I an environmental fanatic. I am merely another person who believes in changing the environment for the better.
I believe city council should provide, for free, three to five cloth bags to each household. Residents could then start carrying these bags to the grocery, hardware and other stores, thus substantially reducing the need for plastic bags.
There is no need to ban plastic bags. But the need for them would be greatly reduced, resulting in substantially less plastic contamination at the landfill.
Whatever cost the city incurs in offering the free cloth bags would be offset by reduced environmental concerns, because cloth bags can be washed, dried and re-used.
Marcelo B. Villanueva Jr.
Sarnia
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Easy and low-cost leaf collection
Sir: Bill and Susan Miller of Bright’s Grove recently showed me how they deal with the leaves from their 18 trees. It costs them very little, and it could reduce the city’s handling costs.
Over the past 20 years or so they have acquired a dozen plastic tubs, which measure about 30 x 19 x 14 inches.
They simply drop big handfuls of leaves into the tubs, tramp them to compress them and put them by the curb for the city collection truck.
The workers dump the leaves into the truck and leave the empty tubs. No bags are involved.
The trucks takes the leaves to the compost site and dump them there. No bags to cut open and empty (which apparently costs taxpayers some $250,000 a year).
When not in use, the tubs are stacked and left outside, or in a garage until next time. They are readily available at hardware and home and building centres, ranging is cost from $10 to $15, and should last forever.
So why on earth has city council been debating plastic vs. paper bags for three month, when a low-cost, workable and in-use-now system such as this already exists?
Well, they have to waste taxpayer money somehow.
John Parker
Sarnia
City Hall kiosk wasteful
What was Sarnia council thinking by bringing back the lobby kiosk at City Hall?
I would come out of retirement, and would actually be a great greeter, for $83,500. Why does this cost this much money?
Is this lobby person able to, or even want to, take care of the cranky person coming in to pay their taxes.
I agree with councillors Colquhoun, Stark, Burrell and White, who voted against it.
Put in a great display system to explain the departments at City Hall. We live in 2019! We really just need elevator information to explain where to go.
And how many people actually need assistance there in the first place? The contractors and realty people already know where they are going. Have a wonderful day,
Margaret Banovsky Holmes
Sarnia