Garbage Strike Creating 'Smugglers' In Vancouver

"The mayor says the garbage strike has made us all better recyclers. Maybe. But I'd say it's also turning us into a city of smugglers, if my experience is any guide."

"I'm not talking about dealing in drugs or stolen jewels, though given the size of this city's underground drug economy, lots of people apparently do just that. My illicit items are more prosaic: rotting banana peels, week-old salmon skins and, after the long weekend, turkey bones."

"In the early days of this seemingly interminable, 83-day civic strike, I sucked up to my friends living out in the wilds of Metro Vancouver, who kindly let me come to dinner with a bag or two of detritus. But let's face it, there's only so much garbage even good friends will take -- even if it comes with a nice bottle of chablis that costs me $20 a pop."