2049 replies to this topic

[Nparker]

...The right thing to do is not necessarily the popular thing to do.

Agreed. Just because the "single-use" plastic bag ban was popular at the CoV Council table does not necessarily mean it was the right or best way to protect the local environment.

[Mike K.]

I don't think that's the benchmark it's made out to be.

I had a crazy uncle once that gave an entire box of peanut brittle each to me and my brothers when we were children.

 

Our satisfaction with him was high.

 

Our dissatisfaction with our parents' rationing of said boxes was high.

 

This anecdote is not to say that Langford is irresponsible, but when making decisions it's not necessarily the good of the environment that is foremost in mind.  Assuming that's the reasoning behind the CoV ban, which I know is not universally accepted.

The right thing to do is not necessarily the popular thing to do.

 

Adults don't need mommies and daddies rationing peanut brittle for them.

 

I get what you're saying, but your analogy defies the very meaning of a democracy.

 

We elect politicians to represent us and to do our bidding, not to be dictated to.

[DustMagnet]

Risk? ... I'd have to care first - and unfortunately, for the scenario you present ... I don't.

 

I really do like the idea of just chucking the bag out the window though ... but that would mean I'd have to eat while driving, which might make a mess of my vehicle.

SO - I think I'll eat my lunch at my desk ... save the bag ... and then as I'm driving home, I'll chuck the bag out the window!

If I time it right, I might even be able to get the one-time use plastic bag to land directly into a waterway ... how cool would that be?

 

Thanks for the tip!

 

On the one hand I'm impressed with your dedication, on the other I also see so much wasted potential.  You could be out collecting plastic bags from others specifically to dump in the waterways (let's show those Asian rivers we can compete!).  Tell me you're at least dumping your used oil in storm drains.

[VicHockeyFan]

Used oil? i’m dumping fresh oil from my derrick because Oak Bay refuses to recognize my resource claim.

[DustMagnet]

Adults don't need mommies and daddies rationing peanut brittle for them.

 

I get what you're saying, but your analogy defies the very meaning of a democracy.

 

We elect politicians to represent us and to do our bidding, not to be dictated to.

Adults do need regulation however.  Don't project yourself into the anecdote.

 

It boils down to this:  If bags get into the environment then someone is letting them into the environment.  This means that some adults (presumably) are letting them into the environment.  So, let that continue or stop the bags at the source?  Depending on the maturity of the user is evidently not cutting it.

Your characterization of the governance model is perhaps too simple.  "Our" bidding?  So the electorate is a mentally cohesive whole such that every member wants the exact same thing, and the government's role is to make that happen?  That doesn't seem... realistic?  Is the city supposed to sit and wait for the next edict from the unified electorate hive mind?

Or maybe every decision should go to referendum (some streamlined online system)?  Direct democracy vs the representational model currently in use?

If there is someone who lives in the CoV who supports the bag ban then the CoV is doing their bidding.  The system works.

 

[VicHockeyFan]

antifreeze oil and paint is getting into our oceans every day.

why not ban them all at the source?

[sdwright.vic]

We elect politicians to represent us and to do our bidding, not to be dictated to.

Those in the Issit camp believe otherwise.

[Mike K.]

Funnily enough, we literally voted to explore amalgamation with our fellow municipalities.

 

Instead we got a plastic bag ban.

[Nparker]

..If there is someone who lives in the CoV who supports the bag ban then the CoV is doing their bidding...

But if the policy does not reflect the wishes of the majority of the citizenry, it is not doing their bidding. How do we know for a fact that a "single-use" plastic bag ban is what 42,897 people want? I was certainly never asked.

[Cassidy]

....Tell me you're at least dumping your used oil in storm drains.

What good would that do me?

I have an area at the side of my house that doesn't get used ... but that is a hassle to trim of weeds and overgrowth ... so I dump all my used oil there. I don't have to weed-whack that area as a result, and it always looks trim and neat.

A side bonus is that that part of my property is heavily sloped directly onto/into my neighbours property, so ..... well you get my drift

 

A relief to you though ... is that gravity and the movement of ground water means  that eventually all the used oil I dump at the side of my property DOES eventually wind up in the storm system (ya' gotta' love gravity)  ... so you don't have to fret too much about my used motor oil being completely wasted on a straight dump into the storm drain ... it serves a useful purpose before it eventually winds up there.

 

(I dump all my stale lawnmower gas and old yard chemicals there as well, so that part of my property really does do double duty+).

 

But enough about motor oil - back to the topic of the thread ... one time use plastic bags!

[lanforod]

Should completely ban cigarettes too. Those butts/filters take 10 years to decompose (they're plastic too!). They are probably the number one litter most of us see everywhere.

[LJ]

Should completely ban cigarettes too. Those butts/filters take 10 years to decompose (they're plastic too!). They are probably the number one litter most of us see everywhere.

Hey, I wonder if they will make filtered joints? So much healthier.

[Matt R.]

They already do.

Matt.

[Cats4Hire]

They are probably the number one litter most of us see everywhere.

them and gum. Singapore has us beat on that one though.

[LJ]

They already do.

Matt.

I had no idea. Obviously I have had very limited exposure.

[lanforod]

them and gum. Singapore has us beat on that one though.

 

Yep. This problem is something that time is slowly dealing with thankfully. Both cigarettes and gum (in North America, anyways) have lost a lot of popularity.

[Mike K.]

Councillor Lucas' liquor store in the Rialto Hotel no longer offers plastic bags and charges patrons 25 cents for a paper bag. Individual-sized paper bags are offered for free.

[mbjj]

Speaking of used oil, we used to use a small kerosene heater in our greenhouse. When we no longer used it, we had half a jug of kerosene left that we wanted to get rid of. I phoned all over and asked in person at Ellis Recycling. Nowhere would take it. We ended up leaving the lid off and putting it out in the sun for a couple of months until it evaporated. Some items are very difficult to dispose of. If we'd been bad citizens, we could have dumped it out onto the boulevard.

[VicHockeyFan]

Councillor Lucas' liquor store in the Rialto Hotel no longer offers plastic bags and charges patrons 25 cents for a paper bag. Individual-sized paper bags are offered for free.

Individual what’s? Like for single cans or bottles?

[Mike K.]

Yeah.