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Consider alternatives to garbage incineration

A letter in response to Metro Vancouver board chair Greg Moore

An open letter to Mayor Greg Moore, Metro Vancouver board chair:

In reference to the story in the Jan. 7 Surrey Leader titled "Misunderstood Metro faces uphill climb in 2013", I have on several occasions offered to come and speak with you in Metro Vancouver, at any of your many Zero Waste Challenge events, at your office, at your regular luncheons, as well as inviting you to come here to Gibsons B.C. and look at what an alternative to a garbage-burning incinerator looks like from an operational perspective.

I think this would be educational since you say you're "frustrated" that no one is proposing a viable alternative to your scorched-earth garbage-burning initiative that you claim to also be a Zero Waste initiative.

It is not a Zero Waste anything.

It's burning garbage, polluting your neighbours' backyard and forcing British Colombians to need landfills, for the toxic ash created through incineration which now must become hazardous waste landfills.

Since you have not accepted my offer to hear about alternatives to incineration, could it be that there are others like ourselves who have sound discard management business models that require no incineration, who you are also ignoring?

Is it possible you only want incineration and therefore aren't really interested in hearing about alternatives?

And if this is the case, please be honest when you make factually incorrect claims that nobody is coming to you with viable alternatives. This is just not true.

Your claims to know how Zero Waste works must be challenged.

As both a social enterprising business and one of those "opponents" to your costly incineration boondoggle, I do hope that equal time will be given by the Surrey Leader to an alternative to incineration which is actually in keeping with the principles of Zero Waste. Your burning scheme does not.

Media outlets and organizations who are circulating these kinds of news stories  hopefully will give equal time to showcase sensible discard-handling methods.

We do not need any garbage burning  incinerators in Canada period!

There are many better alternatives!

Buddy BoydGibsons Recycling DepotGibsons BC