On a recent overnight stay in my old hood, the West End, I was struck by a number of changes since I moved to Bowen, but none were as obvious as the change in the look of the hundreds of garbage bins in the back alleys. The aesthetic look of garbage bins may not be top of mind for most visitors to Vancouver but I think they tell an interesting story, one we also see on Bowen: they are bright and cheery with words of encouragement like, “Progressive Waste Service” and “Revolution,” on their sides. They make garbage seem less dirty, and make you almost feel like chucking some in.
Making garbage feel good is not entirely new, of course, it started with the three R’s. For decades, it seemed, we were being told to reduce, re-use and recycle. This mantra has been updated, and now comes under the guise of the term “zero waste.” Municipalities are setting zero waste goals all over Metro Vancouver. Even my workplace is introducing a zero waste strategy.
The problem is, this lovely catchphrase is, in fact, garbage. Solid waste production (and non-solid waste production, like Co2 emissions) is on the rise on our lovely little island and in the rest of Canada. A Canadian in 2017 produces significantly more garbage than a citizen in the 80s. Gone are the days of a fridge or TV lasting 20-30 years. In are the days of yearly upgrades of our phones, monster TVs and particle-board furniture which falls apart almost the minute one leaves the Ikea parking lot in that brand new Ford SUV (with eco drive of course).
Making people feel good about their garbage is an incredibly dirty trick, in fact. It allows us to keep consuming without considering the consequence. The new mantra of zero waste ups the ante on the three-Rs, just in case some of us were catching on to the fact that most recycling programs make little sense from an economic perspective. Now with zero waste, we can all be part of a progressive revolution for a cleaner, healthier future.
So my fellow Bowen Islanders I would like to ask, does it feel good? Do you feel satisfied unloading your truckload of last weekend’s beer cans and separating all the plastic products into the various bins? The recycling depot is, undoubtedly, a social venue rivaled only by the pub on two-for-one burger day.
Yes, it does indeed feel good to have a free-pass to endless consumption. We all LIKE to care, but need to check ourselves a little more closely before falling into the comfort of doing what we always do, but with a new framework for talking about it. There are real solutions out there, but they start with something a little more challenging: questioning our daily habits, and challenging ourselves to take the actions that yield real results.
