Dear editor,

It is time to have organic waste, recycling and garbage pickup in our semi-rural Comox Valley areas. The last referendum was so poorly done that I and many others had no idea it was happening and so a very organized and vocal group voted it down.

At this time my private basic bi-weekly garbage service, without any recycling or organic waste services, costs a bit over $400 a year.

It makes me cringe to think of all the people, like me, driving individual cars to the bottle return and the only public facility for recyclables in Cumberland. Putting yard waste in the garbage or paying someone else to truck it to a composting facility is the only current choice for most of us. Composting kitchen waste, chopping, layering, turning, watering, aerating and fending off rats, even if you have the space, is too labour intensive for the average household. It is also essential that curbside pickup starts as soon as possible so that households in the Comox Valley will be included in the pickup of organic kitchen waste for the new composting facility at Campbell River scheduled for operation in 2022.

Not all but many of the people who 鈥渢ake care鈥� of their own garbage do so by burning, burying, or illegally dumping. I can see why they don鈥檛 want this AAP to go through; ringing alarm bells about out-of-control taxes and undemocratic process is no more than a ruse.

The added burden to the environment of individual choice about garbage disposal is avoidable and that means it must be done universally and publicly.

I note that the tendering process will be open to all local haulers who wish to bid on one or all three of the proposed service areas.

Patricia Lupton,

Comox

ALSO: LETTER 鈥� Comox Valley Regional District using 鈥榰ndemocratic鈥� process to push agenda