Collecting the garbage from Cortes Island public docks

Max Thaysen/Cortes Currents - Billie Fleming runs a local waste allocation facility – processing garbage and recycling. She has been collecting garbage at the Docks around Cortes for over four years.

Cortes Currents learned that there are some changes coming to the dock garbage collection service around

Billie gives us a bit of background:
Real Dufresne was collecting the garbage for years for a very small fee. Billie started working with Real and they realized that the pay was too low and approached the Harbour Authority of Cortes Island (HACI), who collects fees and pays for collection. HACI agreed and raised the pay for collection services.

Billie adds that the Cortes community doesn't realize how much Real did. When he was at his healthiest, there were not beverage cans on the side of the road. Real did a lot of other underpaid and invisible work, keeping Cortes clean and greener.

Billie describes how much work it is to do the dock garbage collection.

“In the summertime, five days a week. And in the wintertime, one day a month”, she says.

Billie did the math on the amount of time it takes and the amount of pay the collectors get. She compared the results with the amounts of time and pay that are involved in the SRD contract to collect residential garbage and recycling from peoples houses around the island, which happens on Saturdays.

Billie says that the dock collection is nearly as much work as the residential collection, but only one-tenth the pay.

Billie wants to be clear that HACI did not know the extent to which the pay was low and when they found out they agreed that it was not sustainable. HACI realized that the fees required to cover a fair wage for collection would not be possible to collect – the fees are paid on an honour system and do not currently cover the expenses of even the low wage.

Billie goes on to describe the abuse of the system – she's had couches, chemicals, fuels, needles and human feces. This is from local residents as well as the transient boating community.

Billie points out that the abuse of the system (and the workers) by transient boating community is particularly egregious because they should be paying the cost of getting their garbage to the apprpriate places – historically this has been subsidized by the Cortes community.

Billie says it just couldn't go on, and so she came up with a new option.

The new option is modeled after a garbage service run in Refuge Cove on West Redonda Island. There, people pay by weight. Billie says her program will have different rates for those who sort their waste and for those who don't. The highest rates will be paid by those who contribute a mix of garbage, recycling and compost. The lowest rates will be offered to those who separate all those things.

This is tiered cost program will hopefully offer a way for local liveaboards to have an affordable waste option – if they sort their garbage.

The garbage collection will be focused on the long summer months beginning May 15. If people need garbage collection outside of that time, they are encouraged to contact Billie directly to make arrangements.

Billie doesn't want people to be throwing their garbage in the ocean and also believes that people need to take responsibility.

The new waste collection service will happen from 10am to 6pm everyday beginning May 15, at the Gorge Government Dock.

For more information, contact Billie at [email protected]