I know I’ve written about this in the past, and I’m not sure off the top of my head how long it’s been since I last vented about one of my biggest pest peeves, but I feel like spring is always an opportune time to make my voice heard once again. The message is clear, and it’s simple to abide to – don’t litter.
Of course, it’s always refreshing to watch the last bits of snow melt in the spring, and the green leaves start to bud out soon after, but the mess that is often left in the wake of the missing snow baffles me every year.
I truly don’t understand it.
Of course, I get that every once in a while, a piece of paper or plastic may fly out of a hand, out of a vehicle, and get taken in the wind before a person can grab it. But the vast amount of plastic bags, Slurpee cups, fast food wrappers, and sometimes even diapers and other trash that lines our roads and highways in the spring is completely the result of negligence.
Usually, over the first weekend of May, groups of youth line some of the highways, complete with neon orange vests and giant garbage bags. Although it was put off by a week due to the wildfire up north, it was again groups of young people who took the time to go out and pick up the trash.
Although I can totally support to provincial highway cleanup program, which offers these groups incentives to get out and clean up the garbage, the fact that there is even a need to offer the program makes me frustrated.
Anything beyond tossing the odd biodegradable banana peel or apple core out the car window drives me crazy, and makes me a little angry. My husband has seen me fume about this topic on more than one occasion, once when we had just started dating and he attempted to leave garbage on a sidewalk.
Now, over 10 years later, I’ve clearly been able to get my message through to him, and he is equally frustrated when he sees a vehicle in front of us toss their leftover French fries, cardboard cup, and paper bag out the window. My kids are also on their way to being brainwashed, and our oldest son often reminds his little brother that it’s not ok to litter.
That all being said, I do blame the majority of the trash on the roads and stuck in fences on adults – people who should clearly know better. It’s not the 4-H kids who walk the highways, or the elementary students who spent Earth Day outside cleaning up near their schools.
Hopefully, within a couple more generations (or sooner) the provincial highway cleanup program won’t be needed anymore, because the idea of putting your trash in the trashcan will be common sense.
