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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