Involve residents in reducing city waste

Re: City proposes user fees to finance trash collection (SP, June 7)

I thought this was a muchneeded report on stringently controlling waste that is headed for the landfill. At a recent Ward 7 meeting, Mayor Charlie Clark expressed concern for construction refuse. In volume, that is likely so.

However, I believe a great deal of household rubbish could be diverted if the city would follow the lead set by other municipalities ( Victoria, Vancouver) in banning specific materials from being sold.

Such bans have the added advantage of environmental sustainability and reducing hazards to wildlife. If Saskatoon were really cutting-edge, there should be a ban on all black plastics as well. This is an urgent public health issue. Many alternative packaging options exist these days, using plantbased materials that are not plasticized and breakdown completely in organic wastes.

With more than 200,000 residents in the city now, households must be contributing hugely to volumes arriving at the landfill. Public education is a critically missing aspect in this process.

Conscientious pre-sorting and commitment to waste reduction would be better achieved if there was a financial incentive.

As property tax-payers, we feel frustrated by the money grab of having the costs hidden in annual taxes and then being additionally charged for extra carts and disposal. Show garbage costs on the utility bills.

Reduced waste could be monitored by weight-sensing lifts when the garbage is emptied. Such weighing devices exist in many applications these days (automatic clothes washers that control water usage based on laundry weight).

Reward households with lower monthly bills.

Susan Marles, Saskatoon