At Thursday’s District Council meeting, a debate ensued about whether to proceed with the requirement that all Muskoka residents use clear bags to dispose of solid waste. The implementation of the use is not expected to occur until the green bin program has been expanded to all of Muskoka.
Councillor Heidi Lorenz, who chairs the District Engineering and Public Works Committee, told her fellow councillors that Muskoka is at a dismal 37 per cent diversion rate. “So it’s interesting to note that curbside garbage contains at least 40 per cent of food and organic waste, and that winds up at the landfill and creates methane, which is 28 times more potent [than]greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide. So that is the direct result of people not using their green bin,” she said.
Lorenz said clear garbage bags “is an important next step to get to where we want to be.” She noted that an expansion of the Rosewarne Landfill is already having to happen. “We got there pretty quick; I mean, I think that we’re all surprised that we’re talking about the Rosewarne cell four.”
Councillors Don Smith and Mike Peppard asked for the motion to proceed in principle with the use of clear garbage bags to be pulled from the minutes of the Engineering and Public Works Committee and voted on separately. Smith said Muskoka needs a higher diversion rate but believes there are better options, such as addressing construction and commercial organic waste.
“I think, at this point, it’s a bit of an intrusion. We have not finished the education process. We need to follow up on that education process, and we need to look at the other options first that I think are more viable and will present better results for us,” he said.
Peppard said he agreed. “There are some larger perpetrators of our landfill filling up, and I wouldn’t mind looking more carefully at those first.”
Councillor Scott Morrison said he appreciated Councillor Lorenz’s comments about methane gas. “While I do think that it might be a bit of an intrusion, my family members in Cape Breton have been doing this for about 15 years, and they’ve adapted, and I don’t even think it’s an issue for them anymore,” Morrison also noted that that there are provisions for things like feminine hygiene products and incontinence issues. He suggested that for those with limited resources, an exchange program could be established to exchange black garbage bags for clear ones.
District Commissioner of Engineering and Public Works James Steele said there will be communication about switching to clear bags to get people ready and a transition period. He also said that once the waste gets to the recycling facility, the contractor uses AI and optical sensors, and they’re able to pull out almost every item that has recyclable value, as opposed to in the past, when it was a manual process with “folks on a line that were pulling it off and putting it in the right spot.”
Steele said under the Municipal Act, the District is only responsible for managing residential waste, but the solid waste master plan, expected to be presented by the end of 2026, will examine whether the District should manage industrial and commercial waste. “I’m not suggesting that we stop doing it, but it is something that we’re not obligated to do; it’s something that we’re choosing to do. And so the master plan will give us that long vision and give us a sustainable future with respect to managing waste.”
Lorenz said education is not working and so the next step is clear garbage bags. “We’re at 37 [per cent]. For Muskoka, where we pride ourselves on being the crisp, clean place, we should be embarrassed by the number…”
Councillor Brenda Rhodes said switching to clear garbage bags is a must. She said everything that leads to more diversion should be looked at as space is running out. “If we want to talk about cost, what is the cost of us having to truck out our garbage once our landfill is full and we cannot build any more cells or new landfill? That would be tremendous, and on the tax base, it will be almost unbearable,” she said.
“We have not addressed some of the big specifics that we have some power over—the compostables that are commercial and the construction and contractor waste,” insisted Smith. “Those are the issues that we need to address, not some plastic bags. It’s public relations. It’s not going to do us a good job.”
Councillor Bob Lacroix said the District had embarked on numerous campaigns to educate residents about the importance of recycling, including the creation of a guide, but it has not been effective. He said using clear garbage bags in other areas has proven to increase diversion by about 10 per cent. “So if you can increase it by 10 per cent, at least on the household side, that’s a start,” said Lacroix. “I agree; I’ve been fighting this with Councillor Smith forever—construction waste is our number 1 problem, and we do have to look at it. As Commissioner Steele said, we will be when we’re looking at the master plan. So we have one step now and hopefully a bigger step later.”
Steele said collectors will inspect the clear bags briefly. “If it looks like it’s no more than a certain percentage of non-waste materials, so recyclables, organics, etc., then it would get rejected and stickered… the idea there is to provide residents feedback that, you know, ‘we’re asking you to do something a little bit different.'”
Councillor Brian Bochek also spoke to picking up organic waste and driving it to Bracebridge as “a little ridiculous.” He said composting should be done locally. Others, like Councillor Sandy Cairns, said they don’t use the green bin program but compost the material themselves for their garden.
Steel also noted that much of the commercial waste does not end up in Muskoka’s landfill. “Somebody who has a restaurant, who has a dumpster out back… that material is unlikely to arrive at our landfill.” He said Muskoka’s mixed waste price is more than three times the industry average. “So if I’m a commercial, private organization, that I’m running a waste collection business, it would be unreasonable for me to pay that fee to the District when I can take it somewhere else for one-third of the price,” said Steele, adding that smaller contractors using tip trailers are using the site but they are limited to 10 cubic metres per week.
Again, Steele said those discussions will be covered during the creation of an overall waste master plan.
In the end, the majority of councillors voted in favour of proceeding with requiring that garbage disposal at the curbside be done in clear plastic bags.
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The Real Person!
The Real Person!
What will happen with those of us who don’t have our biodegradable items picked up?
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
All that talk and not one mention of the waste generated by the fast food outlets that
cannot be recycled. This must account for a large portion of landfill usage.
Its easier to make laws to cover the working class than tangle with big business.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
The devil will be in the details as things roll out. (What is the approximate date?)
Sturdy transparent trash bags would be okay, but it is not always easy for everyone to read symbols or get all those labels off the cans, containers, and bottles and clean them properly for the blue box. I can guess the unmarked styrofoam tray my pork chops came on are trash. More emotional labour for women to be monitoring the trash and recycling I fear. It is one more thing to do for the family.So not everyone is compliant all the time. I am not sure that the three bag limit of smallish opaque bags is sufficient for all adult incontinence disposables or even diapers for families with a few children. Keep in mind also that collection is not weekly all year round. Additionally, backyard composting poses a bear attractant for some of us rurally, so not a solution for everyone unfortunately. Apparently my “weeds” and smaller pruning clippings, and non-native deadheading are not acceptable as trash or green bin, ( having been rejected for trying to trash some small cut up branches) so I am now forced to solarize in large green contractor bags and we will be perhaps driving down to the Rosewarne from Utterson when we have a full pickup load.
There will be lots of curbside disappointment and some gnashing of teeth when this new collection policy starts up.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Our situation is somewhat unique in that we live year round on a rural private road, with no formal road association. When the cottagers return for the season, the garbage and recycling left at our communal collection spot at the end of our road increases dramatically. I am wondering how the new sorting and collection rules will be communicated to those seasonal people? We trust that the town of Huntsville will have a clear and ongoing method of communication with the cottagers so they will know about the upcoming new rules and collection changes. Second, a big ongoing problem for us is with people who don’t live on our road, but who dump illegally at our collection spot. We’re thinking it’s people who live in the neighbouring township and find it more convenient than driving to their own township dump. Of course we don’t know for sure. The big problem is that people are already dumping “dirty” recycling such as mixing compost in with blue box material. Once the new rules come into effect then these bags will be tagged and rejected, as they should be. The problem then is that their garbage now becomes someone else’s problem to deal with, because those people don’t come back. There’s no easy solution, but sure is frustrating!!
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Think I figured this out. Become vegetarian, grow your own food and eat everything.
No plastic, no animals, no work for the sanitation workers, no dumping in ditches etc., no trucks, no fuel needed, no arguments.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
I do think the District should be MAILING each property owner a current list of what can be recycled or put into organics for those who have it. The last time I saw a physical list was years ago, I know that has changed. Not everybody has access to a computer to check if item a. b or c can be recycled or green binned . I believe before forcing everybody to use clear bags for garbage maybe the district should step up and make sure people are aware of what they should actually be doing I’m not assuming they looked online
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Did the district actually ask any of the residents for input on this decision? Clear plastic bags will create privacy concerns, and attract animals on collection day. When the bags are rejected then they will have to be cleaned up and driven to the transfer station. How is it not more of an environmental impact to have more cars driving garbage, and how will this not promote illegal dumping from frustrated residents? This does not seem to be a well thought through plan.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
I know there are other towns in ontario where they (town councils) have introduced (and provided) hens to backyard residences. The best composters around and the egg production would be useful for any family. The reduction in organic waste is substantial.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
We’ve never had a problem composting.
It’s invaluable to us with gardens.
Kali has a great idea. I heard recently of solar farms using sheep to eat the grass around and under the solar panels. I understand this might be an issue with town folks.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Just a mention while on the environmental aspects of this ; factory farms worldwide are the biggest producers of toxic methane gas and certainly rival , if not exceed, the damage done to the atmosphere and land by the oil and gas industry, yet never seems to be mentioned . Chew on that .
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Please send a list on paper of what actually is considered proper household waste that can go in clear bags. Also is the town of Huntsville going to buy back our black garbage bags 🤔
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
So now I have to buy both clear kitchen catchers and large clear bags?
I don’t use large bags for my garbage. I use a good old fashioned garbage can.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Some might say this is just another “I can remember when” post. But I can and do. I remember when everyone had their own solution for the garbage. Down town they heaved it in the swamp near where ‘beer lake’ can sometimes be found. Someone would torch it every so often and it would smolder and smell. ‘Til they moved the ‘dump’ out to the present day fairgrounds.
Country folk however never drove trash to town. Most homes had their own special spot for the garbage. My uncle and I had to haul the trash to the back of the hill behind our homes and dump it all over the cliff. Our neighbors had a special spot in the bush behind their house. Across the road, the trash would accumulate in baskets ’til there was a tractor load and it would be hauled around behind the big hill and heaved into a gaping crack in the hillside.
There were some community dump sites. Just past Markle’s rd. out Brunel. Just before Britannia Rd. Also back Britannia Rd. on the big hill just up from the hotel itself. Years worth of garbage was dumped there for as long as the hotel was open. Some of those dumps were frequented by people who would go in the evenings to “see the bears” which would be foraging through the trash. Not much on TV.
There was a cottage on the Lake of Bays that always piqued my curiosity. It used to wink and flash out of the hemlocks when we ran by with the boat. It wasn’t ’til the old gentleman’s son got my Dad to build a newer building there that I found out why. The man used to cut both ends from a can and save them. When a knot would drop from the old hemlock siding, he would just tack a can end over the hole. The cans were flattened and put in a burlap bag with a rock. And he didn’t take the bag home with him when they closed up in the fall. Guess where that bag went.
If you know the properties well enough, I imagine you could find where these sites were. What you would find now would be mostly glass and heavy metals like old stove parts and the like. Trash was different back then. No plastics. Mostly just cans and bottles. Paper and cardboard generally went to the fire and table scraps would go in the box stove or garden. People also had burn barrels where a lot of trash went up in smoke.
I’m not saying that any of this was the way to deal with trash, but it was what was done. And the more ‘civilized’ we become the greater our ability to turn larger amounts of the planet into trash. In search of profit.
So it wasn’t surprising to read that an Amazonian tribe attacked loggers. It is assumed that the destruction of the forest was the cause of their belligerence and maybe that’s so. Although I bet there’s talk around the cave man tv in the evenings.
“Looks like civilization’s coming Bob.”
“Yeah. And the word is it just leaves garbage.”
“Maybe just a bit of curare on the arrows for tomorrow?”
“Wouldn’t hurt.”
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Methane gas? What about the diesel fumes, greenhouse gas and noise from the old fashioned garbage trucks?
It’s too bad the latest garbage contract didn’t specify moving to modern, quiet, non-emitting electric garbage trucks with half the labour cost using an arm that picks up and dumps the garbage automatically.
Hybrids also drastically cut fuel use and cost, emissions and noise.
Many areas have been using trucks with a single driver and arms like that for years already to avoid the labour cost and strain injuries.
Any vehicle that starts and stops a lot, like garbage trucks, pays back going electric much faster since a huge amount of fuel is used per km every time the engine roars to get the truck moving then brakes squeal to stop it again in only 20 metres or so.
With electric the quiet motor starts the truck moving then regen recovers a lot of the energy bringing it to a stop again. Instead of wasting the energy in the brakes. Brake maintenance and cost for garbage trucks are likely 10X or more similar size trucks.
It’s very noticeable in Toronto now with the much quieter and cleaner hybrid and electric buses that avoid the big cloud of diesel smoke and noisy roar of the engine when they start to move followed by the squeal of brakes.
With hybrids the small, relatively quiet engine runs at a constant speed, only a fast idle all the time to charge the battery.
With electric or hybrids they can run the a/c or heating from the batttery with the engine off during driver breaks as well.
It’s too bad Muskoka is stuck in the past with old fashioned, noisy, dirty, expensive to operate vehicles with humans still doing work that is easily done by machines in many towns.
John Whitty
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Toronto is starting to use modern, quiet, electric non-emitting garbage trucks with mechanical arms.
While the big environmental concern here is clear bags.
Half the labour cost as well as a fraction of the cost to maintain and operate.
The bigger the vehicle the bigger the cost saving going EV.
Search the article “Toronto’s First Electric Garbage Truck.”
Muskoka is stuck in the past.