Population Problems

Today, I went to my sister’s provincial soccer championships in North Vancouver. As I stood atop the mountain-like soccer field, I was amazed by the view as I could see most of Vancouver and the water- so beautiful. Until, my sister informed me that “Inter River Park” (the location of the game) was built on top of a landfill! What does this mean? Are we running out of space? Is this even safe?

The population of Vancouver already stands at 2.4 million, a 159,000 increase since 2005; the city continues to grow and so does the garbage. Each person will generate approximately 1.5 tonnes of waste in their lifetime; as Vancouver’s population increased from 2 million to 3 million, waste generation’s anticipated to rise from 3 million to 4.5 million tonnes per year.

Vancouver is known for their beautiful parks, landscapes and forests, “however the shortage of grass sports fields to meet growing demand has become more of a concern in the District of North Vancouver, particularly given tight fiscal budgets, and a limited land base to expand upon. Over the past 15 years, to meet recreational needs, Inter River Park has been converted from a closed landfill site to an active sports field park.”
“All garbage is bad garbage. There is no effective way to rid the environment of our trash. The only real answer is to not make it in the first place.” Read on to learn more about how you can be active in reducing your garbage!
Sources:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=202251
http://www.metrovancouver.org/services/solidwaste/zerowaste/Pages/default.asp

http://www.sitelines.org/sitelines/archive/2006/OCTOBER06.pdf

- zilch, nil, zip, nada, zero – Waste

What does Vancouver plan on doing with items that cannot be recycled? How can we possibly plan on reaching a goal of ‘Zero Waste’ when items such as light bulbs, plastic, glass and mirrors cannot be recycled? Even if Vancouverites cash in their cans, recycle their newspapers and compost their food scraps, is the idea of diverting 100% of waste from landfills to reach ‘Zero Waste’ feasible?

Of course we all want the best for our planet, but recycling is time consuming, not to mention confusing. Currently, Vancouver only recycles 52% of the 3.5 million tonnes of waste produced each year. Who is stopping you from throwing your soda can in the garbage? Essentially, there is nobody forcing you to recycle or cut your waste. Without legislation or increased support extended to each home and business in Vancouver, reaching a goal of ‘Zero Waste’ in Vancouver will cease to exist and simply be unrealistic.

Vancouver must establish laws and provide support, if they plan on attaining their far-fetched goal of 72% diversion of waste from landfills by 2010. So, Can Vancouver shed enough of its garbage to reach ‘Zero Waste’? Toronto has a similar plan. Read an article on Toronto and Zero Waste.

Sources:

http://www.wicomicocounty.org/pubwrk/things.htm

http://www.metrovancouver.org/services/solidwaste/zerowaste/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/06/a-challenge-to-toronto.php