As you probably figured by now, in absence of anything interesting, the environment is a big issue in Toronto. This summer we experienced a long strike of the solid waste management department (i.e. garbage) workers. Thousands of tourists, who heard that Toronto is a cleaner version of New-York, were disappointed to encounter dirty streets. But animals (mostly birds and squirrels) enjoyed the garbage bags that were piling up on every backyard.
While the city was negotiating politely with the union, they opened several stations for people to drop their garbage. However, the workers allowed only one person to enter every 10 minutes, carrying his garbage bags in his hands (i.e. cannot drive in). Lines were created. Some people just abandoned their garbage. The workers called the police. The police gave tickets to people who left the garbage in the wrong place. This is the kind of stories that make it to the news here.
After long weeks negotiates ended. Read what Torontonians think about the result. Note that it is very rare that Canadians would bother writing 500 comments for an article about domestic issues. Only conflicts in the Middle East will get to the 1500 level, so more than 800 comments is extraordinary. It is fair to say that for solid waste management workers, Toronto is one of the best cities to work in the world, except in the winter. Without them Toronto will look like New-York.
Collection on our street alternates between recycling week and garbage week according to a schedule (with detailed instructions in seven languages) that the city distributes to every house. The day before the first collection after the strike, as I walked home I heard a conversation between two neighbors. One asked whether to take the garbage to the curb, since according to the schedule it was a recycling week. The other said he doubts if they will pick it. I thought it is safer to put everything outside. Guess what, the waste management people didn’t touch the garbage. Mayor David Miller, here is a slogan for you: "Toronto: square city for square people".
A couple of weeks later someone from the gas company visited us and gave us an energy efficient showerhead, kitchen aerators, and compact Fluorescent light bulbs, all for free. Apparently it is a government funded program to save water and energy. They also give a brochure explaining how many trees these measures will save in ten years.
Few weeks afterwards the city started replacing the watermain in my neighborhood. They didn’t finish before the weekend, so they attached a rubber pipe to the watermain they were replacing and let the water run into the sewage all weekend. At first it looked strange to me, but then I realized that running water is really nothing for a city that has a great lake, a couple of rivers running into the lake, snow in the winter and rain in the summer. This [square] city is not even trying to save water, or energy, or trees. They are saving money. And if that means letting water run into the sewage then who cares.
