What Governments Can Do
We live in a democracy; that means we are controlled by laws - just
like our classroom is controlled by laws (our teacher says he's a
benevolent dictator!). If you want change, that means you need new laws.
That's where the government comes in.
 We
told you earlier about different communities that are working toward
achieving zero waste (Nova Scotia, Guelph and Toronto). Nova Scotia's
system was obviously initiated by their provincial government. Local
municipal governments initiated the last two programs.
If we're really going to make a difference on this issue, we need the
Ontario government to follow the lead shown by the province of Nova
Scotia. Laws are needed to make our whole province change our waste
management system.
Maybe by placing an environmental tax on companies who use poor
packaging, then we will be able pressure businesses to follow product
stewardship. Charge the lowest tax on packaging that can be reused; Middle
level taxes for recyclable products; and the highest taxes for products
going to the landfill. This will discourage waste and the money raised
from the taxes can be used to help research new ways of eliminating zero
waste. We could buy our chips, pay the tax, and find a way to stop those
chip bags from going in the garbage.
 We've sent a letter to the ministry of environment telling
them about our issues, and are awaiting a response from them. Hopefully
they won't give us excuses that we know aren't good enough like - Ontario
is too big a province for this type of system to work. Europe is showing
great leadership in waste management. Germany already has laws dealing
with product stewardship. Surely, Ontario can do more.
It's time for government to start taking environmental responsibility.
We know there are other important issues out there like Health Care, and
Education. It's also true that we only have one environment. If we don't
start taking care of it, it will not survive.
Elected officials are as the name suggests ELECTED. Sure, some of us
are too young to vote, but we can encourage our parents to vote for those
candidates who DO show environmental awareness. No one is going to care
for the environment unless we tell them it's important. If we believe,
we'll achieve so join us in the race to zero waste! | 
