I would like to start by thanking all Haines residents who self-haul their municipal solid waste to the landfill, making sure the food-contaminated waste is disposed of in our building and not the landfill. All food waste that is mixed with paper, plastics and other household items must be shipped out via barge to keep our landfill clean and bear-free. Our community has worked very hard with us to clean the landfill up, making it a safe place for disposal.
We continuously ask all customers not to dispose of food-contaminated waste in the landfill, but to dispose of it in the building. All it takes is one person not caring and disposing of food-contaminated waste in the landfill to attract a bear and keep them coming back for more. This trains the bears that the landfill is an easy source of food, jeopardizing not only the employees’ lives, but the customers and the community as well.
Recently we have had an aggressive female with two cubs frequenting the landfill. Someone did dispose of food-contaminated waste and the bears found this waste. These cubs who will be on their own next year have just been taught that human waste is an easy source of food. They will now be seeking out your cans as well as the landfill next year, eventually getting them killed for being a nuisance or being aggressive.
Everyone working together is the only way we can break this cycle.
Sally Garton
Office Manager, Community Waste Solutions