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Messing with the term "Zero Waste"
Words have power, as propagandists have known for a very long time. If you can get people thinking in certain terms via the use of certain words, public policy can move successfully in a direction of your choosing, and not…
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The Sharing Economy
I recommend that anyone interested in having a career or a company that’s successful in the coming years read this fascinating article from the magazine Fast Company about the so-called “sharing economy.” It’s one of the most interesting articles I’ve…
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The (excellent) Tory plan to revitalize EPR
I was pleased to see an article making the rounds, penned by Michael Harris, Environment Critic for the Ontario Conservatives, who currently sit in opposition, with parliament shuttered and the Liberals trying to figure out who might replace Premier Dalton…
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Occupational health and safety (OHS), waste and the 3Rs
Lately, I channel the well-placed “What?” during Taylor Swift’s lyrics to her new hit song, We Are Never, Ever Getting Back Together – song number two on an accidental gift CD left in my Dodge Caliber by my 20-year old daughter Alex. And then my mind goes spinning as I imagine attending some seminar in the late 1980s being run by industry and municipal recycling coordinators trained on conveyor belt operations by Henry Ford.
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"Leaf" drops in Canada this fall
I noticed the news item “Fully electric car makes debut in Canada” (see below) about the arrival in Canada of the Nissan Leaf — a fully electric car (not a hybrid) that runs up to 160 km in one go.…
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Does our Waste Glow?
As reported recently by the Ontario Waste Management Association (OWMA) and reported in an earlier blog post by Guy Crittenden, the issue of Canadian waste entering may be heating up again. As they are want to do, the Americans have…
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Environmentalists & Garbage Unions !!
Over the years anyone who has dealt with the City of Toronto on any issue that may impact on the environment has run across the Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA). For years Jack Layton used them as his personal cheerleading section…
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Waste fees & penalties proposed at the Michigan border
Thanks to the Ontario Waste Management Association (www.owma.org) I’m able to offer the following analysis of an emerging situation with respect to waste exports across the Ontario-Michigan border. This is a situation not only of interest to haulers in the…
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An environmental standards based approach to end-of-life vehicle (ELV) stewardship
I penned this piece for the February 2011 edition of Canadian Technician Why regulated standards are needed for end-of-life vehicles Approximately 1.5 passenger vehicles either reach the end of their useful lives or are damaged in accidents beyond repair (and…
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Euro car recycling scam
Here’s food for thought about what’s happening with European cars supposedly sent for recycling. Million cars are scrapped illegally by JOHN HIGGINSON Illegal scrapyards that fail to stick to the rules about removing pollutants from vehicles are making a mint…