LEWISPORTE -
Waste management was on the agenda at the March 10 Lewisporte and Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
Business, organization and town representatives were given the opportunity to speak with special guest speaker chair and chief executive officer of the Multi-Materials Stewardship Board (MMSB) Leigh Puddester.
Mr. Puddester has held the position of chair and CEO of MMSB for five months. He said one of the first things brought to his attention was the extent to which the Central region of the province, Lewisporte in particular, have become pioneers in modern waste management practices.
"The Calypso recycling program was started about 10 years ago, well before the introduction of the waste management strategy, and indeed it actually help shape that strategy for the province," he said. "The MMSB actually supported the Calypso program with $100,000 to assist them in the implementation of the recycling program and it's exciting to see the waste management strategy well underway here in the Central region, with the regional landfill and seven local waste management facilities all set to be completed by 2010."
Mr. Puddester told those in attendance at the luncheon that if the rest of the province can do what is being done in central, then he believes MMSB will have a very successful strategy.
"We have a very small population and a very big geography and when you have that combination it's easy to overlook and not see a lot of those environmental problems that we hear about around the world," he said. "It can be easy to think that it's really not affecting us or that we don't contribute to those problems, but they do affect us and we are contributing."
Mr. Puddester used many statistics to back-up his proof of waste endangering the environment.
"Right now, the Amazon rain forest is being cut down at the rate of seven football fields per minute, 24 hours a day," he said. "The amount of waste generated to produce one laptop is equivalent to 4,000 times the weight of that laptop."
"Also, according to a recent University of Arizona research report, 40 to 50 per cent of all the food harvested in the United States is not eaten and it is wasted."
Mr. Puddester also commented on the abundance of waste from a simple cell phone, which is used everyday by billions of people all over the world.
"Cell phones are replaced on average every 24 months because of all the new technology," he said. "In 2009 there were one billion cell phones sold, so in two years time all those phones will be thrown away and another billion will be produced. And sadly our consumption of cell phones and other products are getting worse.
"North American's now consume twice as much as our grandparents did 50 years ago. It's been estimated that 99 per cent of everything that is produced is either consumed or discarded within six months of its production."
Mr. Puddester said with production comes another major problem - the emissions of greenhouse gases that are produced and the effect of those gases on global warming.
"The most significant greenhouse gas produced is methane, which comes from the decomposing of garbage in our landfills," he said. "Methane is actually 21 times worse for the atmosphere then an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide."
With most people disposing of two kilograms of waste per day, waste is an area that the general public still has to make a lot of improvements, according to Mr. Puddester.
"Two kilograms may not seem like a big number, but it adds up to more then 400,000 tonnes a year," he said. "And all that waste is disposed of in over 200 dump sites throughout Newfoundland and Labrador."
Nova Scotia, which has a population twice as large as Newfoundland and Labrador, has seven dumps. According to Mr. Puddester, 95 per cent of all of landfill sites in Atlantic Canada are in Newfoundland and Labrador.
"The MMSB has a vision of a clean and healthy environment for Newfoundland and Labrador," said Mr. Puddester. "And our mandate is to help Newfoundlanders and Labradorian's to achieve that goal."
Over the last year, MMSB has announced funding for waste management initiatives throughout the province. The Newfoundland and Labrador Waste Management Trust Fund helps support waste management projects that guide the province in modern waste management and the implementation of the waste management strategy.
Since 1999, over $10 million has been distributed to 300 community and environmental groups, municipalities and schools. The fund has also helped fund dump site closures, school recycling programs and environmental education.
"So in addition to strengthening the existing programs, we are also working hard in developing some new waste diversion recycling programs," said Mr. Puddester. "Two of the immediate priorities we have in that area is the recycling of waste paint and to deal with electronic waste, such as computers, televisions and other electronic devices."
Mr. Puddester said the key to a program working to better the entire province is public awareness and education.
"They are just two of the new programs we are looking at and as we move forward we are going to continue to research new types of waste streams that are in our landfills today and try to find ways to divert those streams of waste through educating the public on how to reduce the waste to launching new recycling programs and really trying to find new uses for some of that material," he said. "The Get to Half program message is really simple. It's just about the need to reduce the amount of waste that we generate and the role that each and every one of us can play in achieving this, by making really simple choices about our daily habits - whether at home, at work, or at school."
Mr. Puddester said while MMSB would like to change the habits and attitudes of everyone in the province, the board strongly believes in educating today's youth for long-term and permanent change.
"That will result in major improvements in the years to come, as those kids grow up to be in leadership positions, create and run businesses, manage households and lead governments," he said.
The Get To Half at School program has already reached 17,000 students across the province, as the MMSB has two full-time coordinators who provide tools and learning resources to schools and classrooms. In fact, the coordinators will be presenting in classrooms in Lewisporte and area in early April.
Mr. Puddester said MMSB hopes to reduce waste by 50 per cent by 2015.
"We have the most beautiful province in Canada and the MMSB vision's for a clean and healthy environment for Newfoundland and Labrador," said Mr. Puddester. "I quote Robert Swan when I say, 'The greatest threat to the planet is the belief someone else will take care of it'."
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