We the undersigned demand that government improve province-wide waste management programs to meet the standard set by other provinces and municipalities in Atlantic Canada. The first action we call for is the improvement of recycling infrastructure, including the implementing of curbside recycling programs, and the upgrading of facilities to enable more materials to be recycled.

As anyone who has been following the harbour saga will attest, Newfoundland's waste management policies leave much to be desired. The members of R-CON applaud all levels of government for finally committing to "burst the bubble", but we stress that our waste management issues do not end there. Newfoundland is Canada's last province to implement curbside recycling. Newfoundland has 240 landfills; New Brunswick has 6. Our landfills are not sanitary; they are crude dumps. Newfoundland's recycling facilities are unequipped to process standard recyclables including glass jars, household plastics #3-12, tin cans and milk cartons. Due to inadequate infrastructure, many of Newfoundland's recycling depots are only able to accept a fraction of recyclable materials.

Clearly, waste management has not been a high priority for Newfoundland. This is not surprising in a province so sparsely populated and so fraught with economic hardship. However, what may have been forgivable in the past is no longer forgivable today. The Kyoto accord necessitates a reconsideration of our habits as consumers of materials and energy. But far more compelling are the impending threats of climate change and environmental destruction, and the moral duty of citizens to respect the people they live with and the place the live. We feel deeply privileged to reside in a naturally beautiful, culturally rich and economically comfortable part of the world; one virtually untouched by war, one where vast expanses of untouched wilderness are still a reality. We are grateful that sunrays set on pine clad hills, rather than dissolving into smog. We respect the countless ecosystems that thrive in our forests, on our shores and in our oceans.

Government must respond to these issues with more affirmative action than slapping a tax on beverage containers. We demand that the examples of municipalities and provinces elsewhere in Atlantic Canada be followed. Halifax, Nova Scotia has a curbside recycling program and an organics green cart program. Fredericton, New Brunswick has a blue box program for plastic and metal, and a grey box program for paper and cardboard. There are many other examples. We, the undersigned, urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to respond to this demand.