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6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday March 26, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. NEIL OLIVER Publisher DAVID HARVEY General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA ANCHOR Circ. Manager It's easy to be green There is no question that recycling is good for the environment and that it extends the life of landfill sites -- but that doesn't mean everyone enjoys the process of sorting garbage. However, Halton residents had all better get used to doing just that. In this day and age, recycling has become not only necessary, but mandatory, and Halton Region residents should be prepared to enter a new era of trash collection in the very near future. Starting this week, and continuing until April 5, Halton Region workers will be distributing GreenCarts and a Kitchen Catcher (a small bin to collect organic waste in the kitchen), an information package and a sample of certified compostable bags, to all residents in Halton Region who receive curbside garbage collection. The GreenCart must be used to collect kitchen food waste (fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, bones, pasta, fats and oils) and compostable paper (coffee filters, flour bags, paper coffee cups). This waste will be used to create valuable compost material that can be used in landscaping, agriculture and restoration projects. The trash diverted from the regional landfill site will help extend the site's lifespan. Failure to use the GreenCart for its prescribed purpose will mean your trash will not be collected -- it's as simple as that. Along with the GreenCart, are major changes to garbage collection in Halton which will include weekly pickup of Blue Box materials (papers and containers will now be allowed in the same Blue Box) and regular garbage collection will occur every other week with a six-bag limit. If you are not already doing your part for the environment, you had better start now. Gone are the days of tossing all your garbage into a trash bag. To find out more about the GreenCart distribution, including the upcoming waste collection changes, contact Halton Region at 905-825-6000, toll free 1-866-4HALTON (1-866-442-5866), TTY 905827-9833 or visit www.halton.ca. The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR I remember what it was like before Oakville became a city Re: Is Oakville a town or a city? Oh my, it looks as though I've kicked a beehive. Be that as it may, I can not resist the opportunity to clarify my position on the subject and, perhaps, gently shed a little light on some assumptions made about me. I am a long-time resident of Oakville having moved here in 1973. I lived on Tansley Drive and used to babysit for some of the Toronto Blue Jays that moved into those "new" townhouses. Remember the baby blue Honda Civics with the team logo on the door? I do in fact remember that north of the QEW was, for the most part, farmland. I used to spend many happy hours trap shooting at the Oakville Rod and Gun Club. The club located near Upper Middle Road and Sixth Line is now the Oakville Legion. I was a student at Queen Elizabeth Park and graduated there in 1978. It has since been closed and office after the fire. I also used to work at the Dairygold Cheese Factory on Speers Road, which has now been torn down. I had a part-time construction job at Tim Hortons head office on Wyecroft Road. My first apartment after high school was at the northeast corner of Kerr Street and Speers. It is now being torn down to make way for luxury condominiums. BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com I am not new here. Pining away for the times when we saw cows in pastoral splendor happily munching hay along the fences of Third Line does not make our city a town. Driving along the QEW west bound during daylight, from Ford Drive to Burloak Drive, does not in any way give me rezoned for housing. During high school I worked at the senior citizens' residence on Lakeshore Road in Bronte. That was when Bronte was pronounced Bronny and not Bron-tay. After high school I worked as a waiter at the County Club -- it's now a financial services a sense of a quaint little town along the shores Lake Ontario. The Tribute Homes Condominium project south east of Sixth Line and Dundas will be a town on its own. The new hospital and all the new housing that is going to be built along Dundas Street north to Burnhamthorpe Road somehow diminishes that small town feeling in me. The love of our city is universal among our residents. Everything that makes Oakville highly livable and lovable has given us so many reasons to call this place home. We have much to appreciate and celebrate. Our history, heritage and architecture are sturdy foundations to build upon. Pud See Like page 7 The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.