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6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday June 15, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. NEIL OLIVER Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director TERI CASAS Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager Giving credit where credit is due Halton residents are fortunate to live in a community with such a pro-active health department. Regional health officials routinely tackle issues that impact both the quality and quantity of life we enjoy. They educate us, inform us and frequently shock us with statistics related to social, environmental and global risks to our well being. Teen suicide, West Nile virus, air quality, mould in school portables, doctor shortages, obesity, smoking bans, pandemic planning, SARS and teen drug use have all been topics Halton's health department has brought to our attention in the last five years. Since 1990, the point man on all issues related to public health in Halton has been Dr. Bob Nosal. While he is quick to deflect credit for Halton's successes -- preferring instead to applaud his department's staff and invaluable alliances that have been forged between the health department, local municipalities, school boards and countless regional social service agencies -- Nosal has been the driving force toward improving and protecting the health of Halton's citizens. More than a dozen years before the Ontario government banned smoking in all public indoor spaces and workplaces, Nosal was speaking out against secondhand smoke's costly impact to individuals and our health-care system. His relentless anti-smoking message convinced councils in Burlington, Oakville, Milton and Halton Hills to enact smoking bylaws several years before the province finally took action. The health department has also played a significant role in making us aware of new threats that have emerged. Thanks to more than six years of public education efforts, Halton residents probably know as much about protecting themselves against West Nile virus as they do about protecting against the harmful effects of unprotected exposure to the sun. Very recently the health department organized a forum to discuss the region's alarming obesity rate -- especially among young people. While Nosal openly admits there's no magical solution to the problem, he is also quick to note that obesityrelated health problems are placing significant stress on our already overburdened health-care system. Halton's health department has a simple mandate -- to protect and promote health and prevent disease. Instead of sitting idly by for direction from a higher level of government, Nosal and his staff prefer to be on the leading edge of health promotion. It is largely because of their efforts that we enjoy such a high quality of life. The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Good waste reduction means no need for incineration Everyone who is hoping for a longterm, sustainable waste solution was glad to hear that Halton Region has followed many other municipalities in choosing the GreenCart. While some in the rural area are still not sure that it is needed where they have lots of room to compost, the urban and hamlet areas certainly need it. We must keep organic material out of the landfill. Carbon is held in the composted material rather than released to the atmosphere to accelerate climate change. With the Town of Markham using kitchen waste separation to reach 75 pe cent waste diversion, surely Halton can do as well and, with a little sweat, even reach 85 per cent. After much criticism -- from a Milton resident -- of the current composting facility that Halton has been using in Arthur for the GreenCart demonstration project, three members of Protect Our Water and Environmental Resources (POWER) visited the operation. Compost is arranged in windrows on a concrete pad ventilated through the bottom by air pumped in. The windrows are covered with Gore-Tex speeding the composting process and controlling odours. Compost is bagged and sold. The GreenCart is also one step in avoiding an incinerator in the centre of our region at the Milton landfill. The huge cost, the small amount of energy produced, and the pollution from deadly dioxin and nano particles that threaten our lungs and, ultimately the brain, should be reasons enough for Halton Region to stop the plans that have been moving steadily toward an incinerator. Regarding the "yuck factor of separating one's garbage", frankly, I must say, get a grip. Ten minutes earlier it was on your dinner plate. Now, instead of scraping the plate into the garbage, you scrape it into the GreenCart. This should be fairly easy. I'll bet that a 10 year old could handle it. The GreenCart will be picked up weekly. Next, we need to focus on reduction of the waste produced. We can solve this problem. BARBARA HLALSALL PAST PRESIDENT OF POWER GEORGETOWN Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.