St. John’s Recycling Delayed Two Years

St. John’s curbside recycling program was supposed to start this spring, but the city has just announced that the program will be delayed 2 years due to budget restraints. How’s that news for this new “Have province” capital?

Deputy Mayor Ron Ellsworth said while he felt uneasy about city council’s decision, he agrees that the $1-million cost would put too much strain on its $170-million budget.

This is truly a bummer  because I have not been able to bring myself to throwing my tins, bottles, plastics and papers away. I’ve been collecting them in clear plastic bags waiting for rides to the recycling areas, which don’t come often.

This is probably going to be a big bummer for Cathy Parsons too - whose job it is to field all the recycling and  environmental questions for the government. I met Cathy last year during the St. John’s Women’s film festival, where she told me the best worm composting story ever.

She tells me she gets a lot of awfully angry people  on the phone line when she tells them there is no recycling program in town. They like to take their frustrations out on her - because obviously Cathy has “all the power” and therefore it’s her fault. Now she will likely get two more years of abuse.

More sad but true recycling facts to make my green-conscious heart weep:

• The provincial government recently announced it would not be able to keep its promise to shut down 25 garbage incinerators before the end of the year.

• We still dump raw sewage into the harbour - though I can see the new sewage plant being built from my upstairs window. Pretty.
• St. John’s and Regina are the only two provincial capitals that do not have recycling programs in place.

PS. Don’t talk to me about throwing food waste into the garbage either. I feel so guilty about it, it’s sick. I am seriously considering vermi-composting, but suffer a huge setback every time I find a slug under my desk.

By the way, if you haven’t seen the video, you should check out Cathy’s story about her first weekend home with her new vermi-composting worms. And stay tuned for the next installment of worm composting with Cathy - we’ll be making a new video as soon as I can get it together. (Getting it together always takes longer than you think, don’t it.)