I live in a city which has, over the course of the past 20 years, done an incredible job of getting people to “think green”. We have one of the highest recycling rates in the country and there is a reasonable amount of pack mentality that makes people stop in front of the array of garbage and recycling bins in public places to ensure they are dumping their papers in the paper bin, bottles in the bottle bin, etc. Not perfect but it works.

When I go to our place in the country, there are no such sensibilities but perhaps that’s because in the country we haul our own garbage to the dump. You can tell the city folks at a country dump because they are likely the only ones taking the time to ensure recyclables are properly sorted.

I think the success of Toronto’s recycling initiatives have been the result of consistent messaging about the importance of reduce, reuse and recycle as well as the more practical message that the less we dump, the less we spend. I admit I have been pleasantly surprised months or years later to find it really has been worth the effort.

But there is one green thing happening in my neighbourhood right now that no amount of “go green” messaging will help me understand or agree with. And that is the building of a composting toilet that will sit in a mud and straw structure in the middle of a downtown city park. This toilet will have to be carefully monitored to ensure only human waste gets into it. (As an aside … I want to know who’s on that patrol and assume they aren’t anticipating that all the neighbours will sign up for a tour of composting toilet clean-out duty).

I guess I can be convinced that the greater good will be served if we all learn a little more about how composting toilets work. I suppose those little folk who desperately need access to facilities won’t have to walk another 150 yards to get to the one which is currently available (with flush toilets). And I can even go along with the idea that building something together is also community building. But what I don’t buy is that just because something is green, beautifully and artfully created it must the the right thing to do at this place, at this time.

Which brings me to the crux of my rant, why are media in general so susceptable and uncritical of the “green message”? Lots of attention gets paid to the heartfelt efforts of those who have green on their minds but little to those who might have other ideas, perspectives or context? Worse yet, the distortion of the “green” message is buried by criticisms of hard-working public servants. City staff trying to deal with this one don’t have a chance. In this case they are portrayed as mean bureacrats because they insist on having a safety fence around an eight foot deep hole in the ground. Is there a solution? It would be so nice to see a little more critical assessment on the part of the media on issues such as this — giving a reasonable pro and con approach? Most of the neighbours I have spoken with have the “resistance is futile” attitude. They know to raise a voice even to ask reasonable questions will mean they will be marginalized by the “green” group. Those who speak up are left to the Letters to the Editor not the news pages.

While the example in my local park is about composting toilets, anyone else struggled with how to respond “green at all costs” messaging from a personal or professional point of view? There is a large majority silent by choice or chance who might want to be heard on this one as long as they feel their voice will be listened to with respect.