HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-08-22, Page 1————'
One small step
Blyth Festival starts
own recycling program
See page 3
90 years young
Alfred Knight
still keeps active
See page 6
Big win
Steve Fritz captains
Canadian champs
See page 13
Teachers
sponsor
candidates
debate
On August 30, the Ontario
Secondary School Teacher's
(OSSTF) Federation, District 45
(Huron) will be sponsoring an all
candidates meeting for the upcom
ing Provincial Election.
OSSTF has been more active in
this campaign for various reasons,
but the most important is the
present state of funding for the
Public Education system. Since
1975, the OSSTF says, the Pro
vince's share of Ontario’s educa
tion bill has dropped from 61.3 per
cent to 41.1 per cent in 1990. This
has left the local school boards the
task of making up the difference, at
the expense of the local tax payers.
At present, the only province in
Canada spending less than Ontario
on education (as a percentage of
average personal income in 1989) is
British Columbia. OSSTF states
that “spending too little on public
school is child neglect.’’
L In addition to the financial
problems, OSSTF is also concerned
about the way changes are made in
the educational process, on a
province-wide basis, without the
proposed changes being tested. It
seems that the children of Ontario
are being used as guinea pigs in
experiments that are political in
origin rather than educational.
These issues and others will be
addressed at the meeting on
August 30. The meeting is sche
duled for 7:30 p.m. at the Central-
Huron Secondary School in Clinton.
MVCA told
environment
suffering
“We are on a downward swing
and depleting our capital at an
accelerating rate. The environment
is suffering.’’
These were the sentiments ex
pressed by Mr. Rick Findlay, a
director of the Ontario Round table
on the Environment and Economy,
who was the guest speaker at the
Maitland Valley Conservation
Authority general meeting last
Thursday. Previously, he has held
positions with Environment
Canada, and while there was
esponsible for waste management
and recycling projects including the
initiation of the Blue Box program.
As Canada’s Niagara River Co
ordinator he was responsible for
the country’s activities relating to
toxic contaminant problems in the
river. His last position was as
Director of Analysis and Co-ordina
tion. He has a degree in chemical
In his speech he likened the
situation to a train station, saying
that a lot of people were on the
train and there were encouraging
signs that we were moving for
ward. However, many still remain
ed waiting on the platform to see
how things would be, that our logic
suggests these are the right ideas
but let’s see before we decide.
“We do stupid things but for good
and well-intentioned reasons. The
tickets are going to cost a lot more
very soon,” he said.
Mr. Findlay explained to those
gathered that it has become in
creasingly obvious that the econo-
Continued on page 15
VOL. 6 NO. 34 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 1990. - 50 CENTS
Walton firm manufactures composter
Giant garbage eater
Chris Lee of L. H. Resource Management in Walton stands in front of the latest product from his
plant, a giant compost mixer that helps speed the composting process by breaking, mixing and
chopping the com posting material. The machine is bound to a project at the University of Minnesota.
Part of the solution to the
mounting piles of garbage across
North America may be sitting in a
Walton backyard these days.
Looking like a hungry giant, the
mechanical composter recently
completed by L.H. Resources of
Walton may be one of the answers
to turning part of previously trou
blesome garbage into compost to
re-enrich the soil.
The machine just out of the
Walton plant of L.H. Resouces will
be shipped to the University of
Minnesota for a huge composting
project there. The design for the
machine was originated by now-re-
tired Professor Jack Pos of the
University of Guelph Agricultural
Engineering school. He developed
the machine to speed up compost
ing of manure from the Univer
sity’s barns. A study undertaken by
a consulting firm for the University
of Minnesota looked at all the
large-scale composting operations
in North America and recommend
ed Prof. Pos’ system as best.
Because of a long association with
Prof. Pos, Chris Lee of L.H.
Resources got involved in the
manufacture of the machine.
The composter looks like a
mammoth roto-tiller and in actual
ity that’s what it is. The compost
ing area will be like a bunker silo
used by farmers, with a cement
bottom and sides and covered over
so rain won’t get in to change the
conditions under which the com
posting is done. The huge machine
runs on steel wheels along the tops
of the walls of the composter. Each
day it makes the trip from one end
of the composting through to the
other, its gigantic teeth whirling at
300 revolutions per minute, the tips
of the teeth travelling at 100 miles
per hour, stirring up and chopping
up the contents. By reducing the
size of the material and keeping it
stirred up the composting action is
much faster and without smell. As
it passes down the composting bin
the machine also moves the com
post along about 10 feet. It means
that in a 10-day period compost
from one end of the composter will
be moved to the other end.
Because of the efficiency of the
system, that’s also all the time
that’s needed to turn garbage into
compost that looks, feels and
smells, Mr. Lee says, like potting
soil you might buy at a garden
supply store.
The garbage requires minimal
sorting to -take out metals, glass
and plastics. Other organic
materials, including paper, card
board and wood go through a
grinder and into the end of the
composter. Because of the high
volumes involved, the enclosed
Continued on page 12