Garbage bin - Garbage bout!

There's a lot to be said about how we deal with our wastes. The human body, the miraculous wonder it is, doesn't waste much. That's because we are a product of Nature's selection. But oh this beautiful efficient human machine doesn't deal with wastes very well on a mega societal level. Our social gregarious communities of billions of people create a lot more wastes than our humble sapien brains had to think about on the plains of Africa some 200,000 years ago.

During my long absence away from this blog, I have become the last Mohican with my little garbage can at the end of my driveway. I was informed by our municipality of La Peche, that they would no longer pick up my garbage can (or that was inside) unti I got a regulation size and model G bin on wheels with a heavy duty attached lid. The frustrating thing for me was I couldn't fit the damn thing in my car no way Jose! I knew I wasn't gonna wheel this whale sized vault on wheels from Remi's R  Cube up the road, through the village for everyone to see and laugh at me for being the last of the Mohicans with a honking big garbage can. Not only did it not fit in my car but I had no spot for it in my driveway along with the other honking big blue bin for recyclables. Besides being cheap and it not being convenient for me to convert to the super bin size, I was also against what it represented, like super-sizing the dumpster for everyone to generate even more waste, after all, you got all that extra space to fill up every week and you paid for it! Yes I say, it's all an insidious plot to take over or just end the world.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I got really good at buying or generating as little garbage as possible. Being vegetarian helps, as does having a compost and a fireplace. Being relatively poor also contributes to less garbage. Did I mention I live alone with my cat Skookum? That helps also but that's another story. So what I couldn't use in any way, I just collected it and stored in airtight bags in my basement. My buddy across the street heard about my noble fight with the system and said I could just toss it in his bin if if there was space on garbage day.  Cool. Until one day some animals or crows got in because I overstuffed it? And my buddy's partner got a little put off by the arrangement and I felt quite embarrassed to say the least. Ah, so that's how this whole converting thing works...


Deep down I know I couldn't win this fight but in hindsight if delivered the right way, it could make a good stand-up comedy routine. Not that I could ever do that sort of thing or even perform music as I've become fairly terrified of doing just about anything in front of an audience, but somehow this is different. Could be that no one actually reads it which is quite convenient and fine for me.

When I first defied the garbage guys (who I always respect and appreciate the job they do and the service they provide and secretly I've always been a garbage picker, always been interested in the things people threw away, besides I'd love to be working outside and hanging onto that bar on the back of a 20 ton behemoth truck barreling down the road with purpose! At least that's the way the still do it out here in the country. I also realized that the garbage trucks were now outfitted with fork-lift like device that flipped the bin up, over and into the truck without undue strain or risk to the human operator. These people, still mostly men, who work hard and are good at the invaluable service they provide society.

The second time I defied the garbage monitors (garbage Gestapo?), they left a formal polite warning notice on my door. It had a long list of ridiculous violations, I was check-marked for "unacceptable or non-standardized garbage receptacle".  I knew I would lose the war on this stand because A few weeks later I tried again just for fun and watched from the door as they drove up. Buddy starting writing another warning ticket and this time left all the garbage behind and drove away. I walked out and balled up the "violation" and threw it at this monstrous diesel truck. I think I even even hit it! Right at that moment the massive grinding motor that scrunches up chesterfields and such, came to a sudden and rather pathetic whimpering end. Knowing me, I was probably yelling something in anger, but maybe through the rear-view window, he somehow saw me throw the balled up ticket at their truck. He stopped and got out and started walking over to me. Holy shit man, I can't believe that scrunched up violation notice had some kind of magic super-power to it! I cooled right down because of course, it wasn't his fault or his problem, it was mine alone. He has a hard enough job already duh! I just pleaded my case with conviction and humor and he totally got what my situation and was in full and total agreement. Didn't hurt that he was young and had an open and broad mind to begin.When I think back on it, I think we kind of bonded over the whole experience! I was especially relieved to know the paper snow ball did not lead to damage to their truck or me being arrested or fined.

Make no mistake, the city has made one more insidious move into our sacred country hills of Wakefield. I was the last hold out but I surrendered peacefully and tactfully when I had a new patio door delivered to my house last Fall (~5 years after the new code for super bins was imposed), I got Reno Depot to throw the smallest honking big bin on the truck as well. It was even on special! I must admit I felt like I finally joined another level of societal union. For me it's almost akin to how we started our societal addiction to TV, the Internet and cell phone and now material happiness that just creates miserable garbage. Why can't we just be happy with less and make do with more? I know it doesn't make sense because humanity is a very or too complex a machine. But whether or not we actually survive the 21rst Century, we can at least be comfortable knowing that I and Wakefield have joined the ranks on garbage bins. One thing I know for sure, the way we waste our wastes has all bin done before...

Have a great summer and just remember, nothing really good or bad goes to waste!


   

Don't worry, be happy!

Maybe we are doomed? Like lemmings heading over a cliff or into a wall? The year 2100 is like a an impenetrable barrier, fringe of doom, where nobody dares to go but we’re being swept along in a tsunami of change. Despite the Y2K threat, we had little problem reaching the 2000 milestone but 2100 seems like a mountain too high to climb. Humanity making it to 3000 seems like science fiction! It boggles my mind that policy makers, government or futurists are weary to project any further than 2100. Not just because they’re afraid but maybe because the “system” is locked into a slow motion disaster. Even the insurance industry is weary to make projections past 2100 even though a child born 20 years ago could live beyond 2100. My Dad keeps telling me how sorry he feels for his grandchildren's generation who can't find decent work or even hope to own their own home! Are these children considered lost causes or expendable as ecological collateral damage? Today’s ecological challenges are quickly becoming tomorrow’s intractable problems like biodiversity mass extinctions, exponential growth and climate change. Any solution is hopelessly complex because all major environmental issues are inter-related, you can't fix one without fixing them all!

We are already well beyond the point of no return and deep down, most of us know it. I had the choice of becoming a soldier or an environmentalist when I left Montreal as a 20 year old to start my environmental sciences degree at Trent. The military did not want me or my pacifist ways. When I look back at the issues of the day, acid rain and ozone holes, I miss those blissful times before we had technology and know how to know how big our problems really were. If I’d known then what I know now, I wonder if I would have gone into this field? Like a medic entering a killing field with little more than a few bandages and lots of morphine to help his comrades. But now we’re paralyzed by too many choices, too much information and an impending reality crunch that feels more like a death march. I know no one is listening to this voice in the wilderness and I'm OK with that. Maybe I could have tried harder but what's the point, we're all toast!

It’s become quite evident that we broke the planet so we're responsible to fix it. We know we can’t pay our way out of this disaster. As my brother Pierre used to say, we’re so screwed we don’t even know it! It’s strange and a bit sad to know that in my lifetime (if I get to live as long as my father at 87), this will be the last generation to live a relatively "normal" life on earth. WW II must have seemed like humanity was stark raving mad and on the verge of annihilating ourselves. But we conclusively ended that war with nuclear weapons which bought us time to figure out strategies for our survival. What did we do? We had a baby boom! So many intelligent people of the post war era must have thought (and still do) that the environmental crisis was minor in comparison to the nightmare scenario unfolding of a global nuclear annihilation. Unfortunately and sadly we squandered this time of peace. The environmental challenge is no doubt, the ultimate test for humanity. But our feeble yet beautiful human mind is still in a hunter-gatherer mode and we can’t get our primitive brain around this problem. We are a victim of our own success and the problem has become much bigger than us! We’ve been led down the garden path and now our garden is becoming sterile. 

We’re like children running around with scissors and knives and explosives etc. with no supervising adults around who care or are capable of protecting the innocents. In short, we don't have a long time. In fact, we are running out of time! Instead of fighting mad men like Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin and the next generations of Putin and Trump etc., we should have been fighting together to solve environmental problems that were becoming evident at the turn of the nineteenth century if not before. Maybe war and conflict is a catalyst for technology development that is needed to eventually solve our problems, and if not, for Elon Musk to build spacecraft that can ferry humanity and other keystone species to another planet. A tall order to save ourselves from ourselves! Perhaps the biggest disappointment would be that we pull out all stops to save our planet from dying (or from killing us) and it’s not enough because it’s too late. Maybe it’s better to act like they did in the roaring 20’s, having decadent fun while the dictator’s plotted their revenge? It can be argued that it’s better to try something noble than do nothing at all because the challenge is too big, a mission impossible. Humanity would never have made it this far with this kind of pessimistic thinking! So don't feel guilty, it's not your's or my fault and it probably would have happened anyway. Don't worry, be happy!

My take on fake news and the threat it poses to humanity and the environment

It seems to me that fake or manipulated news is a symptom of an erosion of trust and confidence in democracy. There was an earned trust in the “real news” print media in its heyday because they could afford to hire people to fact check and ensure sources were credible and secure. Now they need fake news checkers but of course they can’t afford that either in their current weakened state!

Everything has changed in the digital age and the old business model of conventional print news is under attack by the digital revolution. After all, who reads newspapers and questions anything anymore?  

Digital news is dominated by an ever smaller number of incestuous media giants who are either divided and conquered or bought off by lobbyists trying to serve their political masters. The so-called manipulation of news is nothing new. It has been floating around in the clouds since the early days of the digital age of naïveté and competing for ever scarcer advertising dollars. News has become a tool for manipulation by the highest bidder!

There is no fire-wall or astute editor to stop the flood of fake news because any news is good news if it sells papers. These polluted waters have infiltrated the infrastructure of democracy like salt rusting away our trust in the institutions we rely on for prudent political action for society to thrive and survive. In other words, fake news is manufactured to serve political and corporate interests by obfuscating the credibility of unbiased and factual reporting of world events. The saying that the truth is the first casualty of war is more relevant today than ever but who really cares about history anymore?

I think the looking glass that mirrors the truth has been shattered by the digital age. The contaminated digital information puts the political and economic perception of reality at risk. The readers of digital news from Facebook or Fox News are like children getting cut on the sharp edges of the new digital age mirror. Society needs to wear down the sharp edges but this takes time that we don’t seem to have the patience for.

Many thought it was about employing cost-cutting measures and becoming more efficient until we realized too late, how manipulated and vulnerable we have become with the digital news delivery system. The digital age is a double edged sword and there's no going back to bows and arrows!

Perhaps the real danger in this confused state between what’s real and fake, is the threat to our way of life posed by things like climate change and species extinction?  Maybe we've become paralyzed from too much information? Maybe our hearts and minds are tied in knots with confusion while our old empire of knowledge and wisdom burns around us? So many questions with few answers that are probably wrong anyway!

Geo-political power relationships are hanging in the balance with this so-called cyber warfare generation. It is much more than a threat to democracy, it’s a clear and present threat to civilized behavior and the environment! I just hope that God is not fake news because we need his help more than ever!

Another municipal election in LaPeche

I thought I'd take the liberty of providing a few snapshots of the highs and lows of environmental issues facing Wakefield in the upcoming election on Nov. 5/17.

LaPeche finally fixed the so-called problem of getting approval to work around an ecologically significant spawning ground near the road cave in at the south end of the village near Rockhurst. Bravo, it only took almost 3 years? Living along Riverside I can say the whole road is dangerous to drive. What little road bank barriers there, are old and crumbling. I wouldn't want to test them. While the road cannot be properly fixed, (and some of us like this as it keeps the cars down) there should be riverside barriers where they are needed as Chelsea has begun to do. It is a big job and will require much fill in material as was done at the Rockhurst cave in.

 The annual practice of cutting the brush under the Hydro wires is a tragedy for the young trees that are trying to restock the bank with vegetation. Its getting better but workers need to be more discernible when cutting young trees where they are most needed to stabilize the bank and road. There are current spots where bikers are at real risk of slipping off the highway edge and into ponds or the river.

The municipality finally used some common sense and outlawed parking along side Mollo's which was a total traffic hazard for vehicles trying to turn onto Riverside when there was opposing traffic. They need to go further and outlaw parking at the far end of Riverside by the intersection of Rockhurst. I'm glad that LaPeche doesn't use salt on Riverside as Chelsea does. Being beside a river should make it mandatory that nothing be added to the road that could leech into the river, including salt or nutrients.

LaPeche has made it mandatory for new green bins which I opposed because I don't wanna pay the $100 and I don't need em". The Mayor was nice enough to call me back and say that a bylaw is a bylaw or a sub bylaw for smaller bins. I don't think our recycling program is working as well as it should but I think there is interest to improve. When I recently tried to put out a big box of old mercury batteries I'd collected over the years into the annual toxic waste pick up, I was told that the batteries were not considered toxic waste and need to thrown into the normal garbage. I'm sorry, but that's wrong.

I don't see our Council talking much about climate change and how we can be more proactive with adaptation measures. This will come as the issue gets bigger.

I like Friends of the Gatineau but I don't think they or the Municipality is doing enough to limit the motorboat traffic speed or dangerous practices, bank erosion and information campaigns about what we can do to better protect our banks (trees are made beaver proof) and shoreline. Same thing with ensuring the river is as clean as possible, more can be done.

For the future, lots of talk about a new boardwalk as part of a Canada 150 grant, but nothing has happened yet. Would have been nice to see something started to keep our interest going. Wakefield has lost its steam train and probably needs to harmonize with Chelsea in ripping out the old track for the rails to trails program. We need to generate a tourism that is sustainable and green. We need to get on board.

Current Council Grade:  C+ (they talk a lot but they don't walk it)

The City is Here!

Our municipality has decided that all homeowners must buy a $120 green bin for their garbage, non compliance will get you a courtesy ticket then a hefty fine. My main reason for "non compliance" is, as a single person who watches what he buys and throws out, I hardly throw out any garbage to warrant a humongous green bin. Other reasons are that I can't get the massive green bin into my car from the hardware store (who are only too happy to make money off this new law), I don't have any room for the gargantuan green bin, I hate bureaucracy and I'm too poor to put out the money. What bugs me the most is the size of the green bin which only a maniac consumer could fill in week! It suggests to me that you paid for, and therefore are entitled to fill that massive green bin every week, almost like it's your duty!

I've already received a Courtesy ticket from the guys who pick up the garbage (sanitation engineers?) for using my garbage can once so now I sneak my one bag a month into my neighbors green bin when they've left for work. This is not something I like doing, it makes me feel like a petty criminal.

Today, I snuck a small bag of garbage into my neighbors green bin (which was barely half full) and then put a small garbage bag of waste plastic vinyl from construction work on my house, into the blue bin (which is also humongous!). I notice the garbage truck is taking a long time in front of my house, so I go over to see what's going on. Guess what, I'm getting another courtesy ticket for putting the plastic vinyl in a green garbage bag which is not allowed! Blood rushes to my head as I grab the ticket off the blue bin, crumple it up and throw it at the truck like I'm David throwing a rock at Goliath! Of course the guy who is working a hard job alone picking up all the garbage gets mad and starts yelling at me. "Go talk to the driver, I'm only doing my job". I quickly apologize and state that its the municipality that I'm mad at for not calling me back about my complaint. The driver shuts off the engine and comes out to talk with me. After telling them my story, they couldn't agree with me more. By the end of it, I've made friends with both guys because they get my frustration, especially when laws change and they are forced to deal with non-compliance issues. They hate the new system! I did point out that the new bins (when full) attach to an automatic mechanism that make their jobs a little easier and I get that, but the guys said they didn't much care for the new system!

The municipality, on their high horse, directs the tax payers to buy and store these huge bins and stands ready to fine anyone who doesn't agree or need this service. I already pay a shit load of money for the privilege of having my 10 bags a year picked up. This of course is after I've paid good money for garbage cans. In exasperation I say, when did La Peche become like Chelsea? When did we become part of the city sprawl?

I think we have it all wrong! For example, we have pick up for toxic wastes just a few days a year. Last week I put out some old paint and a big box of lead filled batteries I've been collecting for years. The guy told me that they don't pick up batteries, that go in the garbage. What the fuck?!

I know the system is stacked against me and sooner or later I'll have to comply or capitulate! I'll do it when I'm good and ready, hopefully when I can find a small green bin that is affordably priced, maybe at a garage sale? This is my way of rebelling against bureaucrazy and the slow creep of the city into the country. Maybe this is why I live alone...

Throw another log on the ideological fire...

I’m not sure what the situation is in Canada but from my perspective, the Gay Pride parade and wider event is big bucks for major cities like Toronto that host it. The event has been main streamed and legitimized to the point that we have Trudeau marching in the Pride parade with his family. A buddy was telling me last week that the Black movement is looking to become part of the Pride family and wants to include black and brown on the famous Pride rainbow logo. We all saw how the Black Panther movement of the 60's broke down into violence and became a spent force from the public viewpoint. Maybe it’s time to find a new horse that they can ride with pride to where they need to go? But black and brown aren’t part of the rainbow says I! Doesn’t matter, it’s not about color or design, its about getting exposure and latching onto a cause célèbre that has deep pockets and unlimited popular support which includes the media. It seems to me that anything that has this kind of social branding will have potential for being co-opted or infiltrated and imitated by other fringe groups to follow. My friend was saying it’s happening all over. Indigenous people’s movements are becoming infiltrated by quasi related groups that want to get in on a good thing, Muslims want to be seen as part of other religious groups that suffer from discrimination and it goes on and on. It's a jungle out there!

I find the whole affair to be rather confusing and sad. What starts as a courageous and unique way to draw attention to discrimination and suffering becomes just another cause. The obvious truth is no organization has the right over the charter and direction of it’s public role and perception. Like Amnesty has grown to represent everything under the sun regarding human rights and Greenpeace or WWF has the accountability and final word on anything to do with the environment or sustainable development. I’m not comfortable but not surprised by the compartmentalizing of causes as they begin to look more like corporate institutions with their big money and lobbying efforts to be recognized as the only real authority on a given issue. 

The problem with this is any righteous cause bleeds into other issues as the world becomes more interdependent. How to judiciously balance the right mix of support to all the various causes out there so that it does more than make one feel good but actually does good? You don’t, at least not easily. Generally, the one who makes the most noise, gets the biggest crowds, or makes the most money are the ones that gets the attention by the public and the authorities. I know it looks good to see Trudeau and his young family marching in the Pride parade like it’s a carnival parade, but this attempt to be the biggest and most recognized cause seriously damages the reasons why brave souls put their freedom on the line to create these events in the first place?

I just read that CIDA (as I still call it) wants to commit a majority of their ODA to feminist ideals over the coming decade. Is this the flavor of the decade and just another way to justify their existence to a safe and popular cause to taxpayers? Or is it the result of a careful assessment of where the most bang for the buck results are likely to occur? It’s enough to make one confused or at lease a little cynical about how the world works. Meanwhile other groups advocating an end to nukes or save the whales or whatever noble causes are relegated to the bleachers until lobbyists can bring the public around. I don’t know what or who to believe anymore and even if I had disposable income to support such wonderful causes, I would be very cautious in throwing another log on the ideological fire.  

Water Go Away!

Wakefield and Gatineau are in the news for our flooding due to "perfect storm" conditions. 1) Spring melt "Freshet" conditions, 2) Two weeks of almost non-stop raining, 3) Hydro Quebec letting go of excess water from their massive reservoirs.  This natural disaster is not over as the dynamic flux of the problem is shifting to downstream communities along the Ottawa river. Today is May 8 and it finally has stopped raining - now its snowing!  

One waterfront property owner in Gatineau who has had enough!

View from 24 Sussex near Rockliffe Park

I've lived on this gentle Gatineau river for 28 years and I have never seen her move so fast or rise so high. Part of the problem is the wide area of this high rainfall and all ponds, lakes and streams are full and cascading into larger river systems. Nature cannot move this much water quickly so now the Gatineau and Rideau rivers has flooded the Ottawa river which has flooded the St. Lawrence and Montreal has now been declared an emergency with levees failing. This must be how it felt when New Orleans flooded!

This poor guy was working alone trying to sandbag his back yard in the city Gatineau

There are heart-warming scenes of whole families and communities working to sandbag homes


Now the Army has been called in but many say it's too late and they're not doing anything. I saw them driving around in their military tanks and waving to little kids but I never actually saw them providing help with sandbagging. This was left to the homeowners whose hands are raw and bleeding from filling and putting sandbags in place. Usually too little too late to stop the rising water levels. Times like this makes you appreciate the power and threat of nature.

There is some limited flooding in Wakefield and up the line in places like Alcove but so far, the dams seem to be doing its job! One strange anomaly I had to see with my own eyes, is a total reversal in water levels down the river from Wakefield around Cascades. It is a hydraulic trick of nature where the water is thundering through in rapids but the sheer flow has resulted in an eerie effect of never before seen low water levels along the shorelines.

Sections of the Gatineau near Cascades are now exposed with logs after being hidden for almost 100 years!


I heard people asking about this "anomaly" on CBC's Cross Country Checkup, but the host or experts obviously didn't know what caused this bizarre reversal in some sections of the river. The people living along these stretches are obviously safe from any flooding but getting caught in those rapids will give you the ride of your life.

The level mark of this bridge pillar over the Lapeche river in Wakefield says it all!

This section of flooding on the East side of the Wakefield covered bridge has weakened the bridge

Water mangled stairway by the Gatineau river in Alcove



I have included these photos as they tell the story better than words can. Some of us were thinking of building an ark but we forgot how many cubits it had to be. As someone who lives on a river, I do feel very sorry for most of the people whose homes have been flooded but... I honestly don't believe these humongous expensive homes should be so close to the edge of a natural river! There was a time when only the poor people would dare live along a waterway but now it's the uber rich which excludes me of course. I'm just really lucky that my house was built with river flooding in mind and that the Paugan dam did not break or let too much water go. Mind you, it would have been poetic justice to see ex-Senator Lavigne's house across the river from me become inundated by water. Especially after he got the municipality to drop the designated floodplain status. It's not about safety, it's about increased taxes! There is no doubt that many of the inundated houses I saw yesterday along the Gatineau and Ottawa rivers are on floodplain and they simply should not be there because they interfere with the natural flow of the river.

Whatever happens in the aftermath of this natural disaster, there will be some serious costs and hopefully some sober lessons to be learned. Will it dampen our appetite for having waterfront properties, I think not. Buyer beware because in the future houses this close to the water will not be insurable! Maybe it's not too late to build an ark?