As volunteer groups challenge each other to pick up the biggest haul of litter and garbage, one group is asking the deeper question of who dumps illegally and why.
A group of mountain bikers recently collected more than 1,500 kilograms of garbage dumped at the forest road staging area of "Mach Chicken," a bike trail on Mount Elphinstone.
"It's a very popular trail. It's the one true downhill trail on the Coast and people from the city come to use it," said Caroline Depatie of the Sunshine Coast Trail Society. "But it seems to be happening everywhere, not just there."
Donna Shugar, Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) board chair, agreed with Depatie's assessment.
"I don't know if it's an increasing problem or we didn't notice it before or the population is growing and that's why it's increasing. It's one of those issues that's hard to resolve, but why," said Shugar.
Cathy Kenny, SCRD solid waste management co-ordinator, said there are many free or cost effective ways to get rid of one's refuse.
There is Pitch-in month, the Earth Day challenge activities, a product care depot for paint, free brush and garden compost drop-offs, an extended producer responsibility fee that gets "the manufacturer to deal with [the product] at the end of its life" which could motivate them to create a new generation of sustainable, less wasteful products. There are tire, electronics and hazardous materials drop-off stations and share sheds for reusable items. Information on these programs is available at www.scrd.ca. Click on "departments," then "solid waste" and follow the links for landfill information and recycling depots.
"I think it's a really small group of people," said Kenny, adding the focus should be on changing that minority's mentality about dumping and show how it effects everyone else.
Kenny said the SCRD has what they call a"Good Samaritan" account. If someone spots a large accumulation of illegal waste and wants to bring it in to the landfill, they can call Kenny at 604-885-6800 to get pre-approval to use the program. They will be asked to photograph the dump area and pull out any identifying pieces of garbage with names, addresses or phone numbers on them so potential offenders can be traced and fined.
"We ask for photos and we try to keep track of where and how often it's happening," Kenny said.
To date, she said the SCRD has spent about $700 waiving tipping fees at the landfill on roughly five tonnes of garbage. The greatest amount of refuse brought in by the program have been tires and large furniture items.
Many of the illegal dumping sites are on Crown land and forestry roads leaving the Ministry of Environment responsible for tracing offenders.
"A lot of it is nameless, faceless garbage," said conservation officer Murray Smith. "This has got to be a joint approach and a community initiative."
For gently used goods, if you have a lot to donate and no way to transport, the Salvation Army will pick them up at your house. A spokeswoman from the Salvation Army said they are booked up to three weeks in advance this time of year, so phone first to book a pick-up time and discuss what items are appropriate for their thrift store.
Shugar said each town has a different program for a one-time, free annual refuse disposal, many of which are happening now. If you spot someone illegally dumping, call the Report All Poachers and Polluters tip line at 1-877-952-7277.
Shugar and Depatie passed along anecdotes from people at various meetings on the Coast who talked about small, private contractors who agree to truck loads to the landfill at a price for someone, but pocket all of the money and dump the load in the forest.
"If you hire someone to take your refuse to the landfill, don't pay until they come back with the receipt," Shugar suggested. "What we understand is there are people allegedly taking it to the landfill when they're really dumping it in the forest. They are being duped by unscrupulous contractors."
