After watching the leaders debate, It is difficult to accept that all the federal parties find the prospect of financial deficit completely unacceptable, but not one of them can even bring up the concept of an environmental deficit. This is a serious issue and one that our leaders are too short sighted to even mention. This issue will likely cost us more than any financial deficit. Having grown up in the ’90s, I have a certain appreciation of how difficult it was, not only for the government, but also for average tax paying families, to turn the tide on the fiscal deficit. In those days, it had to be done. Canada had its credit rating downgraded, which was a big eye opener. The big spending had to come to an end.
This is the situation that we, as young Canadians, have inherited. While I know it is unpopular to come down on the previous generations because, quite obviously, they have done a great deal to improve the quality of life in our country. The fact remains, however, that they did this by living well beyond their means. Their debt will loom over us for at least our generation’s entire working careers and maybe a few more generations, depending how aggressive we are at paying it down. While our debt is an enormous burden, we are currently leaving an even larger one for generations to follow– an environmental one.
Everyone has heard of sustainable living– the art of living within one’s means, both financially and ecologically. You have likely heard that if everyone lived like us spoiled North Americans we would need about four planets to satisfy our gluttonous ways. Our problem is over consumption and the major cause is cheap goods.
Those cheap, easily replaceable goods are partially funded by the taxpayer since they assume the burden of waste disposal. If companies had to pay for the disposal of their goods, there would be a lot less wasteful packaging. This year, for example, the City of Calgary is spending seven per cent of its tax-supported operating budget and 20 per cent of its capital budget on waste management. Alberta has no shortage of landfill space, but the city of Toronto does. From there, hundreds of truckloads of waste a day are shipped to the United States each day, a band-aid solution that is coming to an end in 2010. Because of this, the city is considering either the banning of paper coffee cups, or charging a $0.30 levy per cup, among other things. Personally, I think this an encouraging beginning towards charging the consumer for the life cycle of their purchases. Until we begin doing this, we will never be able to grasp the real cost of our lifestyle and we will not change our wasteful ways.