A group of Good Samaritans spent a rainy Saturday cleaning up other people’s junk along the Coquitlam River.
They collected bags and bins worth of construction waste along with couches, TVs and dozens of hypodermic needles as part of the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up, giving up their leisure time to spruce up the banks of the river that is home to numerous animals, fish and birds.
The sad news, according to organizers, is that they only managed to pick up about a quarter of the junk that was thrown into the bushes along the river because the rest of it was unaccessible.
It seems to be a strange irony of the times that while most people want to protect the environment, many will dump their junk off the back of truck when no one is looking just to save a buck at the transfer station.
Recently, Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore, who is also the chair of the Metro Vancouver board, said he was “astonished” to find out that 60% of residents surveyed have either dumped household items illegally or would do it in the future, with inconvenience being a deciding factor.
Another 40% told surveyors this past spring that they thought it was OK to dump items in public spaces, believing it was just another form of recycling.
Really, people, it’s not that expensive to drop off items at the Coquitlam transfer station, and there are non-profits that will take your couch. As well, there are scheduled days for large item pick-ups in Coquitlam.
If you’re having trouble figuring out what to do with your stuff, visit www.metrovancouver.org
Whatever you do, don’t leave your unwanted goods lying around to cause trouble for wildlife, walkers and children in your local parks.
Your callous disregard for the region’s natural spaces costs us all because it means someone has to go in to clean it up while taxpayers have to pay to dump it safely.
You may think you are getting away with something when you dump your junk at the side of the road but you’ll pay eventually.
