Home News It's easier than you think to put a lid on coffee cup waste

     We hear that there is now a problem with the paper take-out cups that we all use for our daily shot of caffeine, and it is not surprising when we see the coffee shops' garbages bulging with the unwanted paper cups or notice them rolling in the wind on the street.

As at least one coffee-shop chain has indicated that the cups are recyclable, it seems to me that there are at least two solutions to this problem.

For years, I have taken all of my used paper cups home, removed the plastic tops, rinsed the cups out and then added them to my paper recycling box each week. I have never had them rejected. It requires a very small effort on everyone's part to greatly reduce the amount of litter and garbage going to the landfill.

Another solution to the problem would be for each coffee shop to have a separate bin in which the paper cups could be tossed once the plastic lids have been removed -again requiring very little effort on everyone's part -with a big payoff: less garbage.

Carrie Toomey

Kingston

Fronts coach behind the times

Last year, owner Doug Springer had Larry Mavety travel all the way to Sudbury to fire coach Bruce Cassidy, as the team was underachieving.

Well, what do we do this year? Who does Springer and Maverty blame this year? The team is clearly worse off with Mavety behind the bench again. Too often this team comes out of the dressing room unprepared to start a game, then finds itself down early. The same mistakes are being made time and time again at both ends of the ice with little or no improvement, and there is little or no desire or passion displayed.

Is this an issue with players that are not able to play at this level? If so, then why did Mavety and the scouting staff draft these players?

If it is a matter of the coaching staff preparing the team for a specific opponent, then why is the coach allowed to continue? Any other organization would have made a change many years ago. Clearly, the game, the strategies and the manner in which you deal with today's players, agents and parents has left Mavety behind, and once again Frontenacs fans are left behind as well.

Three of the five teams in the OHL's East division have won at least one Memorial Cup, and four of the five teams have been to the Memorial Cup tournament. You know which East team hasn't reached one of those milestones? The Frontenacs. The same Frontenacs who miss the playoffs more often than make them, and if we should be so lucky as to make the playoffs, we are handily beaten in the first round. Last year, there was talk about the Frontenacs wanting to host the Memorial Cup -of course, that didn't happen.

As a lifetime Canadians, Raiders and Frontenacs fan, I am fed up and will not attend a game until Larry Mavety either is replaced or retires. As it stands right now, the Frontenacs organization could be compared to the cast ofThe Wizard of Oz. We have a team with no heart, a coach with no brain, and an owner who lacks the courage to make the changes necessary for this franchise to improve.

This is a good hockey town and it deserves better. Mike North

Kingston