Every day, my commute takes me past the old Howard Johnson Hotel site in downtown Nanaimo. Witnessing the demolition of this once-vibrant facility stirs deep reflection.

A colossal piece of machinery, with iron jaws, tears, grabs and lifts heaps of debris, including mattresses, furniture and remnants of a bygone era.

Continuing through Nanaimo, I navigate past about 25 homeless individuals, huddled on the sidewalk, shivering from the relentless rain. These juxtaposed scenes evoke a profound question: What is wrong with this picture?

The discarded timbers, furniture and especially the mattresses from the old hotel — do they not represent value? Are we so entrenched in a throwaway culture that the building’s destruction couldn’t have been handled in a more organized, recycling-oriented fashion?

Even an uninformed bystander can see the preserved timbers and plywood, now destined to raise the height of Nanaimo’s landfill yet another few feet. With the soaring prices of building materials, this wastefulness is a travesty.

Valuable materials are reduced to landfill fodder, while nearby, people struggle to find shelter. The cost of building materials has skyrocketed, making it difficult for individuals to afford basic necessities. This wastefulness could have been an opportunity to repurpose and recycle materials, benefiting both the environment and the community.

Recycling and repurposing materials from demolished buildings could reduce the strain on landfills and provide affordable building materials for low-income housing projects or community initiatives.

My daily commute through Nanaimo serves as a reminder of our societal inconsistencies. It is time to rethink our approach, to embrace sustainability and compassion and to recognize the value in both the materials we discard and the people we overlook.

Lawrence Lambert

Cobble Hill

Student lockers and a highway pedestrian overpass must become prompt realities, for privacy and safety respectively, concerning the new Quw’utsun Secondary School in North Cowichan.

These are two major downfalls of the $50-million school.

Apparently hallways are too narrow to accommodate lockers, and funding for them was spent elsewhere.

Lockers are standard equipment in most high schools. They are necessary for storing personal items, including........

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