Canadians - Waste Producing Machines

in annie leonard's book the story of stuff, which she wrote in response to her enormously popular youtube video, there is a section where she discusses the amount of municipal solid waste (msw) produced by each country. msw is defined as,

Everything we commonly think of as garbage—from packaging and yard waste to broken Stuff, rotten food, or recyclables; everything we put in the bins that we set out on the curb—collectively makes up what’s known as the municipal solid waste stream, or MSW.

listed are the figures of various countries for their per capita garbage production for 2007. the united states comes in at 4.6 pounds (2.1 kg) per person/day while canada's numbers are listed at 1.79 lbs (0.8 kg). knowing what i know about the selfishness and wastefulness of canadians, that figure seemed a bit off to me.

after doing a little probing (which can sometimes get messy after you discover things you weren't expecting) i came across the conference board of canada's website, where they list canada's municipal waste generation at 894 kg per capita each year. that's 2.5 kg per person/day or 5.4 lbs!

5.4 pounds (time for a spit take)? dang, that's even more than the united states. so what's up with these dirty thoughtless hosers?

from my own personal experience i can say that in general most canadians don't give a shit about the environment or the negative impact that their actions have on others. take a walk in any canadian city and see how much trash you see strewn about, with the vast majority of it being fast food garbage. canadians fill their fat bellies with garbage food and then fill the streets with garbage packaging when they're done.

and if you happen to have the misfortune of living in the prairie provinces, you are well aware of the amount of huge gas guzzling pickup trucks and SUVs on the road befouling the air. usually, but not always, driven by some ignorant redneck who believes owning such a monstrosity makes him appear more manly. where in fact, more appropriately, to quote cornelius from planet of the apes,

somehow, it makes you look less intelligent.

but whether the trash that these heads-far-up-their-own-ass-jingo-bell-ringing canadians generate is on the street or in the dump, they do indeed excel at being wasteful. in fact, of the 17 countries listed on the conference board of canada's site for the amount of garbage each one produces, guess where the canucks rank? that's right...dead last! and this time they can't blame the officiating. crybabies. although knowing how in the dark most people here are about living ethically, they're probably proud of this dubious distinction.

once these asbestos-exporting, seal-clubbing, ecosystem-destroying, trash creating stinkbags come to realize that their own actions are not only having detrimental effects on their surroundings, but by extension on themselves as well, perhaps then they will finally clue in to the fact that it's time to live a bit more responsibly in this world and clean up their fucking act! after all, there are many others we share the planet with so let's not be total dicks. okay?

now go watch your reruns of supermarket sweep and leave me alone!

45 grave - consumers - from the 1987 album, autopsy