I just thought I'd take a moment to mention to readers a couple of things you should know about our website and why we require registration for certain functions.

Obviously when you log onto our home page at www.solidwastemag.com you have access to things like Headline News and the most recent edition of the magazine (which you can get to by clicking on the thumbnail-size cover).

But you'll notice that if you click on "Print Edition" at the left side, and if you try to read archived back issues online, the site requires that you either buy a subscription to the print edition of the magazine or register for our email news service.

Internally in our company there was some discussion about this, because some editors like me would like all readers, including casual web surfers, to be able to access articles from past editions easily and for free. But we're a business publisher and have recognized that over time more and more of our revenues will derive from web-based information. In fact, in our latest quarterly meeting we learned that fully 15 per cent of our company's revenues now come from Internet-related activities.

So, if you want access to archived materials, you need to register using the online process. The site gives you a free trial, so you needn't pay if you try it and don't like it.

Another thing you should try is our new www.ecolog.com website. This portal gives you easy and "searchable" access to our various informaiton offerings, including the legislative and news-related newsletters our company produces on environmental and health and safety themes.

One last point. In our survey last year some of you mentioned you'd enjoy some more wide-ranging news about waste and recycling/composting topics, including some international news (when it's relevant to the Canadian context). Using a special service our company has acquired called "Pluck" I will be updating the Solid Waste & Recycling website and also the solid waste section of the EcoLog.com website with news items using Pluck. They will appear in a special "Editor's Picks" box on our home page, in addition to the custom-written Headline News you've already grown to appreciate.

My company has outfitted me with an IBM laptop with WiFi connectivity so I can keep up with this even while on the road at various industry events, assuming the hotel or venue has a WiFi connection. I've subscribed to Bell HotSpot to augment my Internet access, and am in fact writing and posting this blog entry at a Starbucks in Burlington, as I journey back home from the SWANA/OWMA landfill workshop in St. Catherines.

So, watch this space and continue to enjoy our company's investment in digital technology designed to bring you the most timely news and analysis of our industry in Canada.

Posted by Guy Crittenden at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today (Thursday, October 26, 2006) I'm at the Landfill Symposium in Niagara Region being offered by SWANA -- Ontario Chapter and the Ontario Waste Management Association (OWMA). I was the keynote speaker this morning and gave the "View from 10,000 Feet" -- an overview of the dynamic issues affecting our industry, and the changing waste stream that will show up at landfills, impacted by product stewardship, source-separated organics and other diversion programs (as well as other things like waste-to-energy).

This is an excellent and very technical program. The two-day symposium follows several days of SWANA's MOLO courses (Manager of Landfill Operations). SWANA Ontario's new Executive Director John Lackie has plans to focus the organization on training in the coming years. (See updated list below.) SWANA Ontario also has a strong stream of conference workshops at the Canadian Waste & Recycling Expo on November 29 and 30. Check this website for further details. I've pasted the updated list of future SWANA Ontario events below.

More information will be available in the Events section of this website, and also at the SWANA Ontario website at:

www.swanaon.org

Spring 2007

-- Managing MSW Collection Systems
-- Managing MSW Recycling Systems
-- Construction and Demolition Certification Course

Fall 2007

-- Household Hazardous Waste/CESQG Facility Operations Training
-- Managing Transfer Station Systems
-- Manager of Landfill Operations (MOLO)

Spring 2008

-- Health and Safety for MRF Operations Personnel (one day)
-- Managing Composting Operations

Fall 2008

Landfill Gas System Operation and Maintenance
Manager of Landfill Operations (MOLO)

Posted by Guy Crittenden at 2:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A major project of Business Information Group -- the company that owns this magazine -- and the environment division known as The Ecolog Group, has been the construction over the past year of a new website dedicated to providing environmental business and health and safety information to an expanding audience of readers across a variety of publishing platforms.

Please do yourself a favor and visit the new website which just went live and bookmark the site. And check back often as the site is being populated with more robust information at a rapid pace -- what you're seeing now is simply "Day One" inaugural information. Our goal is to make EcoLog.com your first choice, your main portal to environmental business information.

An advantage of this website over general environmental news websites is that the material has been screened and edited by the editors at Business Information Group, who produce a variety of trade magazines, newsletters, legislative updates and other services.

Visit www.ecolog.com

Posted by Guy Crittenden at 7:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Be sure to check out the news item about Waste Reduction Week under headline news. If you live in Ontario, consider attending the Recycling Council of Ontario's (RCO) Waste Minimization Awards on Thursday evening at the Old Mill in Toronto. We will report the winners on our website under Headline News once we've heard from the RCO afterward. If your organization has special activities associated with Waste Reduction Week, feel free to send us information. We prefer email to snail mail. Editorial information is best sent to me at gcrittenden@solidwastemag.com

Posted by Guy Crittenden at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)