The burning question about Scarborough’s sewage: Toronto Environmental Alliance

I’m pleased to share with you the following message from the Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA):

The burning question about Scarborough’s sewage

What you flush down the drain at home travels to the Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant, which handles 3/4 of Toronto’s biosolids. This waste is a renewable resource that gets recycled into beneficial uses like fertilizer and soil conditioners. Unless you live in Scarborough.

Last night TEA learned that 2 new incinerators might be built to treat Scarborough’s sewage for decades to come. TEA is encouraging Scarborough residents that support recycling.

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Ashbridges Bay

The story brings to mind a Dec. 7, 2011 blog post entitled:

Colonel Samuel Smith and his homestead: Speaking notes for October 2011 presentation

If you want to know more about Colonel Samuel Smith, and the back story related to the log cabin that he built in 1797 in what is now Lon g Branch, at site of the former Parkview School at 85 Forty First St., do a search for him at the search engine located at the upper left at the website you are now visiting. The story related to the log cabin, demolished in 1955, is what got me interested in learning more about local history, in South Etobicoke and Lakeview.

The above-mentiond post notes:

The Colonel Smith site, as Dena Doroszenko has explained, was one of the earliest farmsteads in this part of the city. Anything that tells us a little bit more about what it was like to live in this area of the city, in the late 1700s and early 1800s, is of interest to archaeologists.

Starting in 1797, living at the Smith homestead was very much a matter of living in the country, in a clearing in a forest. Over time the remaining forests in the area were cleared. Then over time we see the encroachment of the growing city. The farmstead in the countryside is transformed, with the passage of time, into an urban farmstead. Over time, we see the property boundaries changing. We see the types of buildings that are needed also changing. We see additions, substitutions, and demolitions under way, in response to urbanization and new technologies.

Doroszenko has studied many sites like the Smith homestead. She speaks of this work as the archaeology of domestic space. The Ashbridge Estate, east of the Don River, by way of example, shows similarities to the Colonel Samuel Smith homestead. The two homesteads are, in a sense, mirror images of each other. The Ashbridge Estate had its beginnings around 1795, starting with a land grant and the building of a log cabin. We see, in both ends of the city, a succession of generations living on the same land, in a succession of houses. Another archaeological site that is similar to these is the Spadina House in Toronto.

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Other TEA items of interest:

Get toxic chemicals out of your clothes

Consumer demand for green alternatives helps us rid Toronto of toxic chemicals. TEA teamed up with Environmental Defence to create a pocket sized resource that will help you avoid toxic chemicals at the cleaners! Simply download, print and fold so it fits in your wallet.

This guide is based on TEA’s Dry Cleaning Scorecard.

Click here for more resources on dry cleaning and toxic-free alternatives.

More Updates from TEA

Join us next Thursday at the City of Toronto’s TalkTransformation! event to learn more about low-carbon transportation options and climate change

TEA spoke at the Budget Committee last Friday about Polluter Pays. On Tuesday, the Committee meets again and will vote on Councillor Layton’s motion to hold water polluters accountable for the full cost of cleanup.

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