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Whistler2020 on the ground

Bitter about litter but zero’s the waste hero
1520whis2020

The delicate scent of campfire smoke combines tantalizingly with the effervescence of the collective mass of loonie racers enveloping me as I chug a post-ride beverage from my water bottle and eat tasty chili out of a bread bowl with a compostable spoon made from a birch tree.

Mildly tired and slightly wasted, it’s time to talk trash. The chili and bowl is edible, riders are encouraged to bring a reusable mug for beer and cider, and soft drink cans are recycled. Napkins and paper cups are converted to BTU’s as part of the campfire keeping the post race chill at bay and burning little holes in the ubiquitous Whistler puffy coat. Leaving no trace is as fun as it is important.

Last Thursday, the Whistler Off Road Cycling Association (WORCA) did something we should all aspire to in our daily lives, by hosting 200 plus citizens in a fun, if not chilly ride around Lost Lake that set a goal of leaving no trace other than a couple hundred tracks on a trail in the woods. The first ever, official “Leave No Trace Loonie Race” was inspired by two race sponsors who were committed to a near zero waste goal for their event — Alpine Café and Nesters Liquor Store.

Whistler is mad as hell about litter and we’re not going to take it anymore. We’re thinking upstream and big picture. If you won’t throw it on your own front yard, don’t throw it on ours, please. When it comes to being better stewards of our waste, any effort is a laudable effort, from Loonie Races, World Cup skiing and local events, folks here are taking a very modern approach to what and how we deal with waste. But the litter battle is constantly (de)volving.

As part of Whistler2020’s Materials and Solid Waste strategy description of success our resort community has committed to “providing infrastructure capable of continually decreasing our residual wastes,” working toward “‘closing the loop’ by providing appropriate and convenient opportunities for reducing, reusing and recycling materials,” and “is well on its way to achieving its ‘zero waste’ goal.”

And what a goal that is. VANOC is committed to zero waste at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and the World Cup Alpine races here this past winter did a good job of testing the possibilities of zero waste inside the Games’ fences. Early reports indicate the events went off with the zero waste goal met. Local event and conference organizers are working with the RMOW through Whistler2020 to create a “Sustainable Event Guide” which will ultimately strive for zero waste. Moreover, the latest version of VANOC’s annual sustainability performance report indicates that VANOC operations are currently achieving a 98 per cent waste diversion rate.

One of the first bylaws ever adopted by the RMOW, The Whistler Anti-Litter Bylaw, Number 34, was passed into law Oct. 25, 1976. It outlines in part, what litter is: “any rubbish, derelict vehicles, garbage or waste materials, including containers, packages, bottles, cans or parts thereof; or any abandoned or discarded article, product or goods of manufacture…” and littering in the RMOW was, and still is, punishable through a fine not exceeding $200.

Thirty-three years later one of the largest and most recurring themes at this year’s community task force action planning sessions — from Visitor Experience, Materials and Solid Waste, Transportation and Natural Areas — to name a few was, “Why have we lost so much ground on the litter battle?” Task force members from all walks of life, organizations and stakeholder groups were baffled by the obvious increase in litter and litterers in our otherwise neat and tidy resort community. Catching someone littering and shaming them seemed to be the consensual way of dealing with the issue coupled with well-laid and publicized littering fines.

One Materials and Solid Waste task force member summed it up neatly for everyone in the room: “How can it be the paper coffee cup you purchase at the coffee shop becomes so heavy you can no longer carry it as soon as it becomes empty?” There are many issues that drive litterers, but a lack of respect for yourself, your community and the ecosystem seem to be the dirty little secret in that ditch.

Recycling facilities and garbage bins are everywhere in our town. Yet some people litter metres away. One of my first memories of British Columbia was in the early 1970s our family did a road trip from our Calgary home to Barkerville, B.C., home to papier-mâché barbers and a replica gold rush town. The thing I remember most about that trip was the amazing geography of the roadside pullouts and picnic areas we pulled into for our lunches and pee breaks. And the garbage owls. No, this was not a particular species, but the fiberglass receptacle on the top of a 45-gallon drum designed to accept and collect garbage. In general, these owl garbage bins were accompanied by a simple message: “Give a hoot, don’t pollute.”

The battle against litter and its perpetrators is one which is currently, and perpetually, underway. At the highest level, vigilant citizen foot soldiers and Whistler’s representative organizations like WORCA, VANOC and other community groups committed to moving the way we deal with trash into the 21 st century will continue to push toward our Whistler2020 goals. We give a hoot.

To learn more about other actions that are moving our community toward Whistler2020 or to get involved, visit www.whistler2020.ca .