West Howe Sound is fit to become the hub of the marijuana grow industry on the Sunshine Coast.
That’s because the area is the hub of all industry on the Coast, according to Ian Winn, Sunshine Coast Regional District director for Area F.
The SCRD’s highest concentration of industrial land is in West Howe Sound with more than 120 hectares already developed. About 160 hectares that are zoned industrial await future development.
Some of that land is likely to comprise marijuana grow operations once the business becomes legal, Winn said.
“They’re already there,” he said, addressing directors of the West Howe Sound Community association at a May 8 meeting.
Also at the meeting, directors discussed how to use leftover funds from an SCRD grant-in-aid the WHSCA received last summer. The $1,450 grant was used to purchase a community composter.
The association managed to keep the cost of the composter low. As a result, more than $200 remains in the WHSCA’s composting project fund.
One of several ideas for use of the funds was a bulk purchase of composting buckets – the kind you can leave on your counter to collect kitchen scraps. The association would distribute the buckets to its members.
The SCRD has proposed that the Sechelt Landfill stop taking food waste in 2020. WHSCA directors agreed that the buckets would help people gear up for the ban.
Coincidentally, when the discussion took place, I had just returned from California. There I talked with Maria Trefren, waste zero specialist for Recology, the company that collects San Francisco’s recyclables. We compared how the Sunshine Coast and San Francisco divert waste from their landfills.
I explained that West Howe Sounders bring their recyclables to the Gibsons Recycling Depot, where they place it in separate bins according to the type of material.
“Your system is a million times better than ours,” Trefren said.
In San Francisco all residences have a bin that Recology empties once a week. All recyclables can go into the bin, including paper, plastic, metal, glass, coffee cups, juice boxes, milk cartons, and soft plastic bags and wrap.
Recology sorts the waste and sends it to companies and countries for transformation into other products. However, San Francisco’s comingling of waste materials causes a lot of contamination, Trefren said.
“So why do you do it?” I asked.
“Because it’s easy for people,” she said.
Those composting buckets would make things easier too. A decision on whether to buy them is likely to come in a future WHSCA meeting.
You could hear about the buckets at the association’s next general meeting. It will feature guest speaker Dr. Geoff McKee, the medical health officer for the Sunshine Coast.
“What’s Up Doc McKee?” will take place at Eric Cardinall Hall in Shirley Macey Park at 7 pm, Wednesday, June 20.
That’s all for now. You can reach me at Elizabeth@rains.ca.
