Looking at the bigger picture

Dear Editor,

Re “Switching gears on waste bins” (News, Oct. 3): Replacing the existing waste bins at city recreation facilities sounds like a good idea.

But, it is just a drop in the bucket compared to the loss due to recyclables put out for collection on the scheduled collection days being taken from the curb by well-organized scavengers, often using pickup trucks. Scavengers believe that anything put out by the curb is fair game for them, in blatant disregard for residents like myself who save up our recyclables for two weeks, then have to watch over them to see that they aren’t stolen.

If our present by-laws are inadequate, (surely the city owns the verges?), then they should be revised to make it illegal to take material which has been put out for the city to collect. Let’s go after the big money, not nibble at the peripherals.

Jeff Goodall