Shaming illegal dumpers

Whenever I read a article about illegal dumping I get very upset. Who does this kind of thing? Old mattresses, tires, disposable diapers, rotting food, broken glass, moulding carpets, leftover paint, etc.

I do not believe tracking down through identification is going to work, besides you could end up shaming innocent people who had nothing to do with illegal dumping (it is easy to just plant other people personal information).

Personally, we have never had a problem paying the fees at the local landfills. I am just happy to clean up the garbage.

However, I do believe that the fees are a major contributor to all the illegal dumping. Even though there is a cost to the operation of the landfills, the benefits and rewards to the entire community far outweigh the loss of some revenue made by the fees.

This illegal dumping is not only taking place along roadsides and our pristine forest areas, it is also taking place right in people's backyards in the middle our communities on private land. There are also builders and renovators who illegally dump. Sadly, there are many many people who will just find a corner on their private or rental property to stash garbage and unwanted items. I heard about a family who, after renovating their home in Kelowna area, built an deck and enclosed all the garbage underneath, rather than take it to the dump.

Even though there is a cost to running the landfill, we would be far better off to wave the fees and encourage people to use the proper dump sites. Many Landfill sites have workers who are "on power trips" and act like they are Garbage Police. What happened with welcoming us with a smile because we are cleaning up?

Random roadside dumping is not the only problem that needs to be addressed, there is a big problem with the numerous private properties that have also become garbage sites.

As a tax payer I would be happy to pay that little extra so that landfill sites no longer charged for dumping garbage. In the end, no fees is a “win win" for everyone.

There are many people who are struggling to pay basic utilities and now we are going to charge for them to get rid of garbage?

With all the emphasis on the environment, we have made it more and more difficult to get rid of garbage. We should be making clean-ups easier not harder.

I say, getting rid of the dumping fees, will benefit us all more than we know. And in the mean time, we would be creating much cleaner pleasant communities. Backyard dumping is a bigger problem than many people are aware. Get rid of the dumping fees and we will have made at least one big step towards the overall improving of our communities.

Again, a big thank you to those who participated in the clean-up and making our valley cleaner, prettier and safer.

Wilma Van Vliet