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economist sunsuntribune environment saturday july 23 2005 like most york region residents i want to cooperate i want to cut down on what i send to landfill yard waste is one of the most obvious places to make those cuts thats why i mulch my grass clippings and leave them on the lawn thats why i have used a home com- poster since the first year i moved into my house but if i have to scoop rot ted weeds off my driveway one more time i might just wrap diem in plastic and drop them on the doorstep of york regions headquarters as anyone with a yard must know by now the region has outlawed clear plastic bags for yard waste we are now supposed to put them in a hard container or a kraft paper bag for curbside pickup istrongly suspect few people are complaining about kraft bags because most are not using them i suspect many people are just slipping their organic stuff into their regular garbage plastic contaminates the composting process so the workers had to remove the material from the old bags its a lot of work kraft paper bags on the other hand- are fully com- posfable and empty them- selves usually before you get them to the curb the theory was these things were strong enough to stand up to the elements for get it they melt in the rain so i store my yard waste in my garage but by the time the monthly pickup day rolls around the bottom of the bag has rotted from all the natural but gross processes going on inside and boom i get slop all over my feet ive tried bags from cana dian tire and presidents choice it makes no differ ence they cant do the job the region of york says they can do 2 bags pieces of kraft recycling complaints york region newspaper group editor david teetzel is tired of having to pick up rotting weeds from his driveway because of shoddy paper recycling bags so i trotted off to canadian tire to get a plastic container surprise surprise they had an entire aisle of plastic garbage cans stacked three shelves high methinks i am not alone in this yard waste problem but within a week that can is filled and i still have three weeks worth of stuff to put in the useless kraft bags now if i compost mulch and have an averagesized yard how much stuff are peo ple who have big lots and dont do these things storing in their garages how bad will it be when the leaves start falling all im putting out for collection is weeds and a few branches pruned from my shrubs why do i have so many weeds well thats another story lets just say i have a- truthinadvertising beef with- bird feed companies that label their product niger seed when it should be labelled big ugly thistles that rip your hands apart when try to pull them out seed next winter im hanging a sign onmy bird feeder that says clean your plate orno dinner i dont believe in whining about trivial matters but i raise this issuefor a reason i strongly suspect few peo ple are complaining about kraft bags because most are not using them i suspect many people are just slipping their organic stuff into their regular garbage someone offered me the helpful hint that if you line your kraft bag with plastic nobody will notice till its too late in either case the purpose of separate yard waste collec tion is defeated as i understand waste reduction programs the easi er and more convenient it is to participate the more peo ple will support it as long as we are expected to dole out money and kraft bags arent cheap for a product that doesnt work york region is going to have a hard time meeting its waste reduction goals david teetzel expected to rise after plastic bag ban by roy green staff writer in the six months since york region banned the use of plastic bags for yard waste there have been few complaints the region says but that will likely change this fall when people living on large treelined properties have to put leaves in kraft bags or separate containers markham regional coun cillor bill odonnell pre dicted there hasnt been much yard waste since the ban went into effect but when the leaves start to fall i expect the phones will start to ring mr odonnell said those kraft bags cost more than plastic bags they dont hold as much and they dont stand up to wet weather until last january the region accepted yard waste in plastic bags but eight of the nine area municipalities approved the ban after learning the region would save 200000 by eliminating the possibility of plastic contamination during processing only georgina opposed the ban because kraft bags are significantly more costly councillor ross jamieson said we even asked the region to allow georgina residents to use plastic bags at least through the balance of this year but they rejected that mr jamieson said well be stepping up yard waste collection to twice a month in the spring and fall keswick resident shirley lawson upset with kraft bags thatbegin to deteriorate while they wait for up to a month in her garage has come up with what she calls a stop gap solution i put yard waste in a plastic bag then transfer it- over to the kraft bags just before the collection day ms lawson said most area municipali ties provide monthly pick up during the summer and many increase that to twicemonthly service in fall andor spring vaughan collects yard waste every week in april may october and novem ber and on alternate weeks in the summer the region has been monitoring the program in the area municipalities and there have been few complaints about soggy kraft bags said mike birett manager of pro gram development and planning for solid waste management complaints about bag failure amount to less than 1 per cent mike birett manager of program development and planning for solid waste management the biggest issue has been about collection fre quencies people want it done more often mr birett said complaints about bag failure amount to less than 1 per cent the region says costs can be reduced if presi dents use reusable con tainers for the bulk of their yard waste and kraft bags for the remainder the region provides stickers to mark those containers mr birett said the stick ers are going like hot- cakes we cant keep up with the requests but mr odonnell says that will change about the same time as the fall colour tours end its not uncommon for me to put out 30 to 40 plastic bags in the fall now ill probably need 60 kraft bags they also take twice the labour you have to pick up the leaves in little bundles and stuff them in the bags com pared to stepping on a plastic bag and raking the leaves in theatre sswjffiss 5sipaskmiia lift r what me 00 waiting for this subscription season is selling like wildfire our createy0ur0wn subscription format offers more choices greater flexibility savings rr up to 23 off regular ticket pricesand outstanding ticket exchange benefits dont miss out on the tremendous savings call today for your free brochure 90330osh0 w view cur new season online at rrreatierrarkrianixa see 7469 it ft i