There’s something different about this week’s paper, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Your finger is on it, actually, if you’re holding a copy of this week’s paper, inasmuch as the size of The Journal has changed.
That’s it! I wondered why it didn’t cover as much of the birdcage floor as it usually does. Thanks a lot.
I didn’t mean it like that. We’re good. And at least you’re recycling the paper, sort of.
Why did you decide to change the size? I had nothing to do with it. It was a corporate decision, based on a number of factors. All Black Press newspapers — of which The Journal is one — have now gone to this format.
Is this the first time that The Journal has changed its size? By no means. When the paper was launched in 1895 as The B.C. Mining Journal, it was four pages long every week, with each of those pages measuring a whopping (by today’s standards) 17.5” by 22.5”. Over the decades it’s changed size several times, so this is the latest in a long line.
I guess I just don’t like change very much. You and almost every human being on the face of the planet.
You mentioned recycling. I understand there are some changes coming to the recycling program. They’ve already started. If you take your recycling to the transfer station at the Cache Creek landfill, you’ll find several new (for us) sorting options.
What about the recycling stations in Ashcroft and Cache Creek? Have they changed? No, but they soon will, if you classify “they’re being removed” as a change.
Removed? Why? In part because of a new agreement between the TNRD, which runs them, and Recycle BC, and in part because unattended recycling depots simply don’t work.
Why not? Because people abuse them, either by depositing supposedly recyclable items that aren’t acceptable, such as greasy pizza boxes and unrinsed tins and bottles, or by depositing things that aren’t recyclable at all and should be taken to the transfer station.
What sort of things? Electronics, furniture cushions, paint cans, styrofoam, and garden planters, just to name a few items I’ve seen there myself. I have been told by a credible source that someone once dumped a severed deer head in one of the recycling bins in Ashcroft, which must have been fairly unpleasant for all concerned; especially the deer.
In what universe is a deer head recyclable? You’ve got me there. But behaviour like that is one of the reasons we can’t have nice things. Don’t get me started on the people who scavenge through the bins, despite a large sign reading “No Scavenging”.
Why do people abuse the system like this? Ignorance? Laziness? Stupidity? Take your pick. It could be a) they don’t want to drive to the transfer station, b) they don’t want to pay the tipping fee, c) they don’t know any better, d) they don’t care, or e) some combination of the above.
You have to admit, it’s a bit of a hike to get to the transfer station. That’s true. However, I would wager that 99 per cent of the people who use the in-town recycling stations get to them in a vehicle, so driving to the transfer station is presumably not an issue. And most other communities in the TNRD have had to take their recycling out of town for many years.
But it’s out of the way! True again. However, the TNRD is going to be building us a shiny new eco-depot right on the main highway, eliminating the drive up the hill. Until then, I’d suggest that you accumulate your recycling until the next time you’re driving between Ashcroft and Cache Creek and drop it off en route. Unless you’re generating industrial quantities of recycling, it’s not terribly inconvenient. And no one ever said that doing the right thing was always easy.
I guess. Did I mention that I don’t like change? Join the club.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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