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A short sighted view of the Okotoks recycling program

Dear Editor, I have been reading the letters coming in regarding the recycling in Okotoks for some time now and most recently the letter comparing the program to communism.

Dear Editor,

I have been reading the letters coming in regarding the recycling in Okotoks for some time now and most recently the letter comparing the program to communism. I believe that if I were a member of the town council I would be quite offended by the comparison. This type or rhetoric is not conducive to fruitful negotiations.

I don’t live in Okotoks. I live in the MD and I am quite happy fewer trucks are driving past my home on the way to the landfill. The town of Okotoks is being environmentally responsible by taking the next step and going to a curbside program because most of that material was formally going to the landfill. It was not that long ago Peter Mansbridge was in Okotoks singing the praises of the towns recycling efforts.

It’s now going to a higher level. They don’t place landfill sites in towns and cities, they are in the country and no one wants one in their own neighbourhood. The MD of Foothills does an exemplary job of managing the landfill; they are continually adding more material that gets recycled.

The towns in the MD have to also do their part. The Town of Okotoks also does an excellent job of continuously adding to the material that they remove from garbage and into recycling. Towns, cities, and municipalities have been implementing recycling programs in Canada for the last 15 years so it’s surprising to see this level of pushback for something that needs to take place. The tipping fees at the landfill have gone up substantially in the last year and they will keep going up, so reducing the tonnage of garbage going into the landfill as much possible makes sense long-term.

To the hundreds of people in the Facebook group that Naydene Lewis represents, who feel this program is similar to communism: travel to the closest socialist country to Canada and then explain your dilemma to the local population. Travel to Havana, bring pictures of your homes, your cars, the Town of Okotoks, the recreation facilities in Okotoks, show all this to the locals and tell them your annual income. Then, explain your communism dilemma.

This would be an interesting exercise for the whole group. You should also film it and put on your groups Facebook page. I will be watching for it!

Daniel Robson

MD of Foothills




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