An amazing 25% of all waste going into city park trash bins is pet waste, or about 2,500 tons per year, which the city doesn’t know what to do with over the long term according to a recent report by Jim Byers (the Star April 11th, 2007).
With 300,000 dogs in Toronto (the Star) the problem is defined as far too many people using parks as their back yards, in places where children want to play, and way too much dog waste landing in city park garbage cans. There is no room for it in the city's green bins and trucking it to Michigan is not an option so the parks and environment committee has now asked city staff to report back on potential solutions.
In the long term, restricting dogs to certain zones within city parks and banning them from school yards (understandably ideas sure to upset dog owners) seems the way to go. Special dog waste stations should be installed in each park zone (as found in Pickering city parks) and biodegradable bags provided. With centralized pet waste collection sites, disposal and bio treatment should be easier and less costly as you benefit from economies of scale. A public education and awareness program should also be factored into the solution.
The intent would not be to single out or punish dog owners, but to include them as participants in an overall garbage strategy and solution. An even bigger issue though is excessive packaging and fast food litter that the province will not regulate and will not make the manufacturers and producers of that waste pay for clean up. Which means Toronto property taxpayer have to pay for it and that just adds to our garbage problem!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment