At long last, Estevan is taking a leap aboard the recycling train.
After years of makeshift programs and false starts, the members of city council passed a motion Monday night to create a full-scale recycling program. The long awaited program will eventually see each residence in the city receive a recycling bin in which residents will be able to place materials such as paper and pop cans.
It's about time.
The fact that Estevan has gone this long without a multi-material recycling program is something of an embarrassment. A number of communities, smaller and larger than Estevan, have enjoyed recycling programs for a number of years and many of them have been very successful.
The details on how exactly the program will come together are expected in the near future but it was announced Monday that residents will place the bins in front of their homes bi-weekly for collection. The City said it will make concessions for areas of the city in which curbside recycling is not feasible.
There will likely be some residents who are not pleased with the decision to go with curbside pickup. At a recent meeting, the majority of those in attendance were all for recycling but did not favour curbside collection. Despite the expected complaints council still voted to move forward and deserve credit for the decision. This is one of those greater good moments and clearly they saw that.
However, it is likely that any positive vibes created by the recycling program will be swallowed up by council's decision to move garbage pickup from the back alley to the front of homes.
This will undoubtedly be a very unpopular decision with many in Estevan. For many reasons, some valid and some not, the idea of curbside waste collection has been the most polarizing issue to hit our city in years. It seems weird to say it, but nothing gets people around here more fired up than where to put their garbage can. If the reaction is anything like what happened in 2008 when the automated system was first put in use, things are likely to get very interesting over the next few weeks.
The hope here is that no matter what side of the matter a person comes down on, things don't get quite as goofy as they did in 2008. The level of rhetoric and animosity was shocking and really did nothing more than make all involved look petty and foolish.
As we found with the change to an automated system, the world didn't stop turning and society didn't crumble. In fact, the majority of residents now seem to enjoy the change.
The City has pledged to work with residents to determine what areas of the City cannot have curbside collection. If they do in fact live up to their word, then residents should give curbside pickup a chance.
Much like the last time this issue came up, they may be pleasantly surprised.
