The Editor,
My family and I ventured off to the Coquitlam River last Wednesday to cool down and enjoy the evening. As we made our way to our favourite spot, I was appalled at the volume of garbage. It was so disheartening to see.
During our trek, I found an old Rubbermaid bin that had clearly been there for a while and started to pick up some of the garbage. In 500 m of land in and out of the river I found the following:
• more than 100 cigarette butts;
• more than 50 bottle caps;
• $10 in empties;
• three broken lawn chairs;
• two popped floaties;
• 15-plus Starbucks cups;
• a broken weed trimmer;
• broken glass and Ziploc bags;
• an old towel;
• abandoned clothes;
• a wrecked tent;
• mostly full bottles of mixers and half-eaten sandwiches;
• plastic utensils, remnants of plastic shopping bags;
• socks and flip flops;
• 15 bags of dog poop;
• so many napkins used for impromptu bathroom spots;
• at least 8 campfire spots littered with books, magazines, twist ties, bottles, feces and so much more.
My husband and I hauled out more than 20 lb. of garbage in such a small space.
There has to be respect for the river and the land. It is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone suffers when we don’t care.
Courtney Catterall,
Port Coquitlam
