Environmental Issues- July 29, 2008
All of the issues we are currently addressing to improve the water, air and land around us will appear here.
The list begins with our achievements to date. We were one of 32 municipalities who had passed a pesticide by-law. There was no spraying allowed during the months of July and August. For more details click on the Municipal link and go to by-laws.
The Province legislated a by-law that addressed the use/abuse of pesticides for cosmetic purposes. That by-law also banned the sale of the forbidden pesticides. Exemptions for agriculture and golf courses were written into the new legislation. This new Provincial Act supercedes all previous Municipal pesticide by-laws.
We have also passed an anti-idling by-law. If your vehicle idles for more than three minutes you are in violation. There will be a lengthy educational component to this by-law. Fines will not be levied unless you are a repeat offender. There are exemptions related to weather conditions. Go to the Municipal web site below then go to the by-law section for further details.
We’ve diverted thirty truckloads of styrofoam from our shared landfill (Walkerton-Hanover). This initiative has gained wide acclaim as we lead the province in this category. Provincial Environment Minister Gerretsen toured our facility and was very impressed. This styrofoam is sent to Ajax where it is mixed with gypsum and sold to the large U.S. market as fire retardent insulation. Wal-Mart Canada, upon learning of this endeavour is committed to sending all of their styrofoam waste to Ajax, starting with Wal-Mart Hanover.
We have diverted 60,000 lbs of E-Waste from our landfill as well. In two years this endeavour has really flourished. The discarded equipment is checked for potential refurbishment before it is sent off to a disposal depot in Toronto. If a computer can be refurbished it will be recycled back into the community. Citizens from the very young to the elderly benefit.
The Municipality, through the Environmental Advisory Committee now occupies three bays at the MTO building on Hwy #9 near the cardboard recycling yard. We use it to store e-waste and only pay utility costs which are negligible.
On August 11th, 2008 the Municipality of Brockton office staff launched an environmentally friendly pilot. The four day work week will see staff go from five -seven hour shifts per week to four eight and three quarter hour shifts per week. This will reduce, by 20% the exhaust from cars to get to and from work.This will,in no way, affect the service provided to ratepayers.
Further to the above, several employees have fashioned their own schedule to accommodate their lifestyle and to ensure that chronic fatigue will not occur. Its not quite the same as originally intended, but it is on the right track.
The latest endeavour is the elimination of green garbage bags. They will be replaced by clear plastic bags to ensure that nothing recyclable will unknowingly be deposited at our landfill.There will be a privacy (smaller) bag allowed in each plastic bag for personal items.This will come into effect July 1st, 2010.
So you see there are many ways we can focus our efforts to undo previous poor stewardship of the environment. We will, hopefully, foster and sustain continuous improvements perpetually.
Thank you for playing a part in our green community.
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