York's Bad Move with the Green Bin

Recently the Region of York has decided to implement a new process for it's Green Bin programme. As Yorkregion.com reports, York Region has passed a by-law that requires Green Bin items no longer be placed in plastic bags (e.g. plastic garbage bags, plastic shopping bags, etc.) but can be put in compostable bags only.  

The Region has apparently launched an education campaign valued at around $357,000. I clicked on the link from the scrolling menu under "News and Information" and the page gives a listing of acceptable compostable bags. But these compostable bags, as pointed out in the Yorkregion.com article, are more expensive overall than regular shopping bags.  Regular shopping bags are normally sold at No Frills for five cents or given away for free with purchase at Wal-Mart.  Whereas the compostable bags listed are believed to be about fifty cents a piece.  At fifty cents a piece per bag per week that is a significant increase in costs to take part in the green bin programme for the average home owner. To add insult to injury the Region of York will not sell the compostable bags themselves.  So what exactly is the $357,000 educational campaign going towards?  Probably just merely high priced help to create the york.ca webpage and advertisement in the local newspapers.  Really the only benefit of the campaign is the local Metroland community newspapers. 

Added to the problem is that "biodegrable bags" will not be accepted either.  Great, this totally confuses people as they must now check the list of approved bags before buying them during their grocery trips instead of picking up a box of bags that seems environmentally friendly.  Apparently "biodegrable bags" are not environmentally friendly enough for the programme as they do not break down fast enough. So, if an average weekly grocery trips are anything like what I go through, most residents will purchase the wrong bags.  Next, the resident will use one and have their wrist slapped by either facing a fine for infraction of the by-law or non-pickup of the green bin materials or, most likely, the local municipality's collection agents will simply pickup the green bin without knowing it is the incorrect bag.  This brings up an important question: Once the bags are removed from the box and used in the green bin, how are collectors supposed to know if a resident is using a biodegradeable bag as opposed to a compostable bag? 

What the Region should do is team up with the local municipalities.  Most of the local municipalities (e.g. Aurora, Richmond Hill, etc.) already take out full page advertisements on a weekly basis to promote local events and council happenings.  There could be a blurb placed in these advertisments about the change to compostable bags and contact information if residents have questions or concerns.  As of right now the Town of Richmond Hill has yet to notify it's residents using this method.  As well local municipal website should be used to also promote the change with a link to the region's website for a list of acceptable bags. Further, the Region and partnered municipalities should be purchasing a vast number of compostable bags from a supplier and making them economically viable to residents.  These bags could then be sold through libraries, town halls and leisure complexes similar to how the region's York Region Transit fare media is sold.   This would make the bags easy to find at an affordable price. 

Currently, response to the bags have been negative from residents so far.  On Yorkregion.com's article there are two negative responses as well as a letter to the editor on the subject. If the comments provided are anything like what the response will be to the introduction to the compostable bags only by all residents, the Region and local municipalities are going to be in trouble.  Most people will probably just forget to put out the green bin and start placing their compostables in with their regular garbage.  This of course would be step backwards but the Region of York is not really making the programme that easy with this little tweek.  The region needs to revisit this switch as the main issues arising are differences in cost between bags.  In times of great economic strife like York is experiencing, governments are looking for efficiencies and words like "revenue neutral".  Why then would it encourage this move that is far from "revenue neutral" and the efficiencies not fully explained?  The Region of York needs to answer this question and hopefully not spend an additional $357,000 on educating us on how.