|
Landfill, recycling, drinking
water and waste water are all important issues, and we need to
continue to push for creative solutions that will ensure we are
not polluting our surface and groundwater resources. The Waste &
Water Team is hard at it, exploring ways to waste less, use
more, and build on what we have already done.
Notes from Saturday November 25,
2006 Meeting
Present: John Clarke, John
Baranyi, Tom Lalonde, Art Knowles, Chris Anstead, Lynne Parkes,
Christine Peringer (facilitator)
Regrets: Jan Fletcher
Introductions:
Team members introduced themselves and shared their
(considerable!) history and current interest in working on waste
and water issues.
Context:
Christine reviewed the goals and process of the Integrated
Sustainable Community Plan for Lanark Highlands. The meaning of
the word “integrated” was queried and John B. suggested it
referred to the participation of citizens in the process (as
opposed to something designed exclusively by council.)
Expenses:
Members were invited to request reimbursement forms should they
wish to claim up to $15 per meeting for travel and $15 per
meeting for child/eldercare expenses.
Work of the Team
Two-part nature of the team’s
task was presented as:
|
 |
To contribute content (words) to the ISC Plan
related to |
|
|
our vision for how Lanark Highlands will manage
waste and water in the future |
|
|
specific actions that we want
Lanark Highlands (either the Council or the
citizens) to undertake in the
immediate, medium or long term |
|
|
To carry out activities during
this planning process that contribute to sustainable
water and waste management
|
Definition of “Waste” and “Water”
was requested. Waste was defined as anything that emerges from
a household or business in Lanark Highlands as a by-product of
their activities. Water was defined as any water that is
brought into a household or business in Lanark Highlands for
their use. There will be some overlap with other teams e.g.
aquifer water quality could overlap with Natural Environment
Team subjects. Regular coordination between facilitators will
identify overlaps as they emerge.
> Action: Christine will
review waste and water definitions with the ISCP facilitation
team
Team Make-up
A number of people were
identified who would have valuable contribution to our work:
Larry McPhee (Lanark water) , Bob Sutcliffe (waste)
> Action: Christine will contact
them
The team decided to postpone
further consideration of who else could be involved until the
focus of our work is more clear.
Starting the Work
The team reviewed the list of
issues which emerged from the community meetings. The following
points came out in the discussion:
What sustainable vision do we
have for Waste and Water in Lanark Highlands?
|
|
All “waste” will be seen as an
unused resource … (since it is not really “waste” that’s
just a name we
inaccurately give it)
|
|
|
A community that does all it can
to recycle |
|
|
A reasonable system for dealing
with waste (e.g. Sustainability of regulatory system
depends on people’s
respect for it -- current regulations require a spilling of
coffee on a job site to be reported –
this leads to people ridiculing the system – this undermines sustainability) |
|
|
A community that maximizes the
revenue generating potential of restoring and reusing items |
What will have to change to have
this vision become reality?
What content are we considering
for the ISCP?
What immediate action(s) might
this team carry out?
|
|
well placed ad in the Lanark Era
re importance of composting, recycling and/or hold an event (so the same info
is in the newspaper at no charge) |
Next Steps:
The team decided to do individual
research on these topics raised today and report back on their
learning at the next meeting:
Christine will circulate meeting
minutes, contact new potential participants.
Next meeting: Saturday, January
13, 2007 at 2pm at Christine’s house, 599 South Lavant Road
(613) 259-2073
Back
|
