HigginsHeatherMatrix2



Canada has a garbage problem just like everyone else. What makes Canada different is how their garbage problem affects the States. Our “Great Neighbor to the North” may be less like the sweet old couple in the apartment above you and more like a giant college party you can’t get to quiet down.

To start I would like to discuss some efforts of what could be considered Canada’s Starbucks, Tim Hortons, which sells 80% of the coffee in Canada. Because this company is based out of Canada I have never been too concerned with whether or not they are using recyclable cups or where their trash is going. Up north people are more than a little concerned, with one website calling for a boycott of Tim Hortons.

Tim Hortons claims that they encourage their customers to recycle and have placed recycling bins outside of their stores. The City of Toronto and Tim Hortons were at war in 2008 over designing new cups and allowing for a discount to those that bring their own mugs. You could say the city won, as Tim Hortons gives a ten cent discount for providing your own mug, half of what the city was asking for, but Tim Hortons has not yet redesigned their cups.

What Tim Hortons charges for a coffee is not of concern to most Americans, so what impact do they have State side? In August of 2008 Montreal’s last landfill became full. So? Who cares? They’ll just dig another one. Canada has lots of room up there. How does this affect me? The two options looked at were trying to get small towns to take more of Montreal’s garbage, or shipping it to the U.S. One could ask why this is even an option, the answer is precedence.

Toronto exports one third of its garbage to Michigan. That is trucks and trucks of garbage shipping over the border to be buried near our homes and schools, in our neighborhoods. In April of 2009 Vancouver voted to dump its garbage in the United States as well. This practice has an out of sight out of mind aspect. Canada sees exporting trash to the U.S. as a temporary solution to their garbage problem. Though we know it will have a lasting impression here.

Once the decision has been made to dump in America, Canada goes shopping. This means they go to competing companies to find the best price for a landfill. Most of these landfills are in the Midwest, a lot of which are in Michigan and Illinois.

America seems oblivious to this issue. Garbage companies here are so focused on their right to ship between states that Canada doesn’t even come to mind. The Midwest worries about the East Coast bringing their garbage in; they are shooing away New York and inviting Toronto with open arms. An executive director of Regional Waste Systems, Inc., Charles Foshay, stated in the Supreme Court in 1994, “I thought we were supposed to move away from landfills, not back toward them.” The decision made by Canada to ship waste to fill American landfills does not move us further away, but buries us deeper down.

Works Cited:

1. Bukro, Casey. "Have Trash, Will Travel." //Garbage// 6.3 (1994). Print.

2. "Garbage In, Garbage Out: Vancouver to Send Trash to U.S." //CBC.ca//. CBC News, 25 Apr. 2009. Web. 28 Mar. 2010. .

3. "Montreal Running out of Time and Space for Garbage." //The Gazette (Montreal)//. 3 Mar. 2008. Web. 28 Mar. 2010. .

4. Alter, Lloyc. "Time For Canadians to Boycott Tim Hortons." //Treehugger//. 5 Nov. 2008. Web. 28 Mar. 2010. .

5. "Go Green. Grab a Handle." //Tim Hortons//. Web. 28 Mar. 2010. .

6. "Go Green. Grab a Handle." //Tim Hortons//. Web. 28 Mar. 2010. .

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