We are coming upon the end of week 2 of the garbage strike and news reports inidcate that there is no end in site. The provincial government is still standing firm in its hope that the city of Toronto will be able to work out its own issues. Until the waste that lines our streets poses a serious health risk, the provincial government will not step in and legilate the union back to work.
In the meantime, citizens around the city continue to make use of the garbage bins as if there is not strike. And yet, we continue to complain that nobody is picking up the garbage.
Maybe if we didn’t create so much garbage in the first place we wouldn’t have to worry about the trash piling up on the sides of the streets or stray banana peels falling to the side of the road or venti cups from Starbucks jutting out of the “temporarily out of order” garbage bins.
Why is it that we are quick to complain about garbage not being picked up, yet we do very little to minimize the amount that we create. It’s as if we as a society just assume that our waste is someone else’s problem. Out of sight, out of mind, right?
The city urged people to take their garbage with them and hang on to it (and yes, I know that would be unpleasant for many of us to do). But couldn’t we re-examine our consumption. Look at the products we use/consume and see if we can do without it for a day or a week?
We can point the finger of blame at other people (i.e. Mayor Miller or striking city workers), because that’s easy to do and it prevents us from taking on any responsibility for our consumptive lifestyles and doesn’t make us feel bad for living our lives the way we do.
Would it be so hard to just adjust our consumption patterns for the duration of the strike, or do we, as a city, just genuinely not care about the way our city looks and smells?
