Green and grungy

Re: “Here’s my wish list for a better Calgary,” Paula Arab, Opinion, Jan. 5.

Paula Arab’s 2012 wish list included a pesticide ban and mandatory compost recycling, but missed a critical connection and pertinent facts.

Without a ban, recycled compost will be contaminated with residual pesticides and herbicides. Who wants such compost in their organic, chemical-free vegetable garden?

Thousands of Calgarians already compost vegetable organic waste for their gardens. They do not want someone else’s compost unless it has been tested and free of pesticide and herbicide residues, bio-hazards and pathogens, industrial and automotive chemicals, animal and fecal matter, trace drugs and heavy metals.

Only 30-odd per cent of all dry, clean recyclables end up in blue bins. Only half that compliance will be achieved with organic green bins due to the daily messy, smelly handling of kitchen and yard waste required. That makes mandatory organic green bins a cynical tax grab. Many Calgarians will not be pleased to find a green organic waste bin tax on monthly city bills for a service they will not use and that they now provide to the city free of charge.

Green organic bins and all associated fees must be entirely voluntary. If you want the city to provide you with compost recycling service, you pay the cost. The city should instead find ways to encourage homeowners to compost their own organic waste to save everyone money and keep more big trucks off city streets.

By the way, Edmonton’s organic waste recycling program resulted in mountains of compost that nobody wants and that they can’t give away.

Mike Priaro, Calgary