WITH CITY council having dealt a death blow to the former Terrace Co-op building and, perhaps, a mortal wound to the My Mountain plan to buy the Shames Mountain ski operation, it now needs to turn its attention to an issue that arguably has a much larger and much longer impact – garbage. Or, more precisely, recycling.
The city and the Kitimat-Stikine regional district are combining forces to eventually close their separate landfills and open a joint one at Forceman Ridge, approximately 30km south of Terrace off Hwy37.
This new one will meet environmental standards and be more efficient but because of its distance, the cost of hauling garbage will increase.
Enter recycling not only for its environmentally-green aspects but for the reasoning the more recycling there is, the less the cost will be to haul what’s left to Forceman Ridge.
The idea of more recycling sounds great, but city and regional district planners were no doubt taken aback with the lack of response to the recent no-charge curbside recycling pilot project. Fewer than half of an intended 300 households took part.
Is this a sign that too few people overall care about recycling? Will planners need to dramatically increase the cost of garbage services in order to force people to recycle? Indeed, is recycling economically viable? Tough questions for what lays ahead.