Congratulations to Benita Grist for bringing to your readers’ attention the dirty city we are slowly but surely becoming.
My own experience, living next to a major thoroughfare utilized by four different schools, is that we are slowly becoming the throwaway society of the country. Having travelled in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America, it is immediately seen that the habits learned in those countries are becoming our problem here.
My neighbour and I regularly pick up garbage thrown away on the boulevard outside our fence, to say nothing of the stuff that’s tossed over the fence into our yard. From this exercise, I have learned that Coke is more popular than Pepsi in our area, Oh Henry is the most popular candy bar and a Mac’s slushy is the crushed ice drink of choice.
My survey of picked-up cans shows that Molson Canadian is more popular here than Labatt’s Blue — to say nothing of the Tim Hortons coffee cups from the store less than a mile away.
A worse situation exists at the Burnhamthorpe Rd. underpass near the high school. Here, the garbage barrels are set on fire, furniture has been taken from garbage pickup and used under the bridge until broken and then burnt. In the spring, school papers are thrown around, littering adjacent lawns and walkways.
One thing for sure is that we need more garbage containers around the city, ones that can’t be turned over and have the contents dumped onto the street.
Perhaps one class from each school should go out weekly and clean up the streets near the school.
Somehow, though, the message of leaving “only one’s footprints as you pass by in this world” must be inculcated in our younger generation. And soon.
