22 ~ Friday, September 3, 1993 - North Shore News —

The residents of New De

dying for a ride on local

iN THE first seven months of this
yeur in New Delhi, India, at least
58 people were killed in bus-
related accidents. Officials at-
tribute the preblem to increased
bus competiticn following gov-
ernment deregulation. Bus drivers
frequently ram buses through
crowded intersections to beat
competitors to bus stops. The
government’s only remedial pro-
gram so far has been a driver's
test that only a few of several
thousand drivers showed up to
take. Only one of those passed.

’ A June Boston Globe stary on the
. Soiree strip joint in South Boston
disclosed that dancer Taylor
Monet, 33, believes she has the

world’s first inflatable breasts, the

result of a ‘‘valve and hose'" im-
plantation that allows her to inject
or extract a saline solution to vary
-the size of her silicone breasts.

eee
The Associated Press reported last

‘month that the prestigious
Hughes, Hubbard and Reed law

° firm Pressured its fawyer. Allan.

Gerson ‘leave the firm
prema ‘in June 80 that” it

NEWS OF THE
\ERRD
Compiled by A.P. McCredie

could take on as a client Libyan
dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
Gerson was a stumbling block
because he was representing the
family: of a victim of Pan Am
Flight 103. Because Libya is
alleged to have had a role in
blowing up the flight,

repre--
-seftation of both the family and
Gadhafi would have been viewed .

as a conflict of interest.

A chief Vatican spokesman, Joa-
quin Navarro-Valls, in a. June
public statement said the real
culprit in recent Catholic sex
scandals is a “‘society that is so
irresponsibly permissive that it can
induce priests to commit grave
moral acts.”

A Sune Baltimore Sun report on
odd philanthropical organizations
included the Anna Emory War-
field Memorial Fund, which
dispenses grants “‘to try and keep
elderly women in independent liv-
ing status in the style to which
they were accustomed,’’ (Trunsla-

tion: to women who, without sup-
-port,

could no longer afford to
stay in their posh. homes in well-

- to-do neighborhoods.)

In July, the government of
Thailand started a hospital pro-
gram to treat elephants addicted

.to amphetamines. The elephants

were given’ the drugs to make
them work harder’ and to with-
stand injury in hauling logs out of
jungles.

_—— MAYBE IT's ABOUT

GRIZZWELLS® ty BH Schorr.

ROW, SON, JUST BECAUBE
WE LIVE INTHE WILD
“GOBSNT: MEAN WE CANT.”
 DENELOP GOREN Aiciead

{ Tawe HE S669

“SUWY, THIS PARK, OFFERS WE
TPINEST IN EXOTIC CUISINE.

“ape MUCH VIoLEeNce

ON “TELEVISION.

bee
Lath
bad BLOAT

© W903 dy NEA, nz

GOVERNMENT
- TAX POLICY.

@ 1993 by NEA, Inc.

“all the work i pul i in thinking t up flavor ,
_names and al! you want is. vanilla?!"

USES Garba

ee |i

ANY TIME you think you’re doing a good job curbing |
your excess purchasiag of superfluous consumer goods, just
move house and see if you change your mind.

Having undergone this test last
weekend, I am once again shaking
my head at just how much stuff a
family can accumulate in a year
and a half — the time of our last
move. :

Frustrated by the thought of
packing and loading boxes full of ©
items that haven’: seen the light of
day, let alone been used, for many~
moons, I was determined to rid |
the household of unnecessary
detritus. .

You car imagine the first gar-
bage pickup day at our new home.

Peeking anxiously from behind
the curtains, | was gratified to see
that the blessed garbage collectors
agreed to haul off the odd assort-
ment of paraphernaiia we had left
out for them.

Of course, this was an exercise
in anti-environmentalism to the
extreme.

I should have been organized
enough (next time, | promise) to
start the packing process weeks
earlier, thereby leaving myself

&& Unfortunately, we
are paying not only
for those residents

who ‘quite legitimately
use the station once
or twice a year, but

for those who abuse

it. W

enough time to sort out unwanted —
‘goods that could possibly be. ~
recycled, repaired, or. garage-sal-
ed. ;

fashion.

There will be an economic in-
centive as well, thanks to new
measures being introduced by the
North Shore powers-that-be.

North Van District and West
Vancouver have moved that the
residential drop-off (RDO) of
garbage to the North Shore
Transfer Station no longer be
“‘free”’ to local residents.

North Van City is currently
discussing the motion, and will
probably follow suit, allowing for
an early October implementation
of the new ruling. -

And North. Vancouver, which
currently does not iimit the

amount of garbage set out.at the ©

curb each week, is likely to follow
West Vancouver’s lead and in-
stitute a three-can limit some time

“ nexi year.

But next time, I will have more .
than an environmental motivation ~
. to conduct our move ina a “green”

. ECO INFO.

Last year, the Distiict of North
Vancouver-alone had to’ gh up:
$927,985 to pay for the w: iste.
dropped off by its citizens:

Of course; that amount
- shared equally on our individual
tax bills. But not all of us use the
transfer station equally. _ ~ far’
from it.’

Of the 87% of the NVD resi-
dents who even knew about th
transfer station, only half had
used it in the past year.

Unfortunately, we are paying
not only for those residents who:
quite legitimately use the statio
once or twice a year, but for.thos
who abuse it.’ ‘

This includes small commerci
operators who show a North:
Shore driver’s licence and claim
their load is composed of. residen
tial waste, when in fact it is gener
ated by their business. fe

Such customers, who are’
suspected to be frequent visitors t
the station, avoid paying the, $69
commercial charge and are very
hard to catch,'as an enforcement
agent would have to follow them
‘back to their home to trace. the -
garbage’s true origin.. - petits

their amount of waste that has to
be incinerated ‘or landfilled, the ;
transfer station will'still accent :.”;
(for free) clean green ‘waste, such

as leaves, untreated wood scraps

and yard trimmings, to the
amount of 200 kg per load.: '
Such material is composted by.
Envirowaste Ind., who operate the
yard adjacent to the transfer sta:
tion. -
While details have yet to be :
finalized, recyclables such as scrap
metal and appliances will also still
be accepted free of charge, but... -
they should be brought down sep-*
arately from any garbage, for
weighing purpeses.. :
And readers will be pleased to -
hear that the North Shore
Recycling Prograra is busy trying »
to get the machinery in motion for

_-a recycling drop-off centre to

Gpen perhaps as early as this fat
or winter, ‘
The centre would accept a wide’

This is good news, not only for « variety of non-blue box

the environment, but for the ma-
jority of taxpayers who are paying
for the people who do create ex-
cessive araounts of waste.

North Shore people are the last
in the GVRD to avoid paying for”
RDO at. their focal transfer sta-
tion.

But don’t be iéoled into think-
ing it’s been a free service all these
years. |

The GVRD charges the North
Shore municipalities $69 a tonne
for garbage dropped off at the
‘GYVRD-administered transfer sta-
tion at Riverside and Spicer i in
North Vancouver.

recyclables, including some
plastics, cardboard, mixed Paper,
metals and more. .

And for those of you who: still
haven’t purchased a $25 :
municipally subsidized back-yard
composter, a zepeat sale will likely «
be held this spring. ,

I don’t see any serious inconve-:
niences ahead for North Shore. :
residents who are sirnply trying to |
. have their usual household gar a
" bage taken away...

I do see a welcome and overdue

‘ economic slap on the wrist for

those of us who sometimes get too
excessive with | our waste. vs ‘