The Litter Project ... Elgin Park Secondary - Surrey, BC - April 6, 2013 - FAIL

I wasn't going to do all three High Schools in my area (Semiahmoo. Elgin and Earl Marriott).  But once I did Semiahmoo, I felt obligated to document all three at the same time so as to get a fair picture of all of them.

I also thought that once I shared my concerns with Semiahmoo School, they may in turn relay those concerns to either Elgin or Earl Marriott, and that may well influence how those two schools looked before I got there...

This way, it's fair, and all three schools are documented at the same time.

I had the highest hopes for Elgin, because there are a LOT of rich people in the area and wealthy parents.  And at first, I was impressed with the facade and the FACE of Elgin... from the street and from the front, it's a well maintained school.

But I did NOT have to dig too far to see a mess of almost equal proportions to Semiahmoo.  The only thing that separated Semiahmoo over Elgin was the appearance of at least 3 condoms on or around school property at Semiahmoo.  I found none on either Elgin or Earl Marriott.  But from a trash and litter perspective, Elgin was equally as disgusting as Semiahmoo.

Again, as with Semiahmoo, I make the important addition of "on or AROUND the school" after doing some research on the school and the school district that governs it (SD36 - Surrey Schools), on which I found this information here:

"The Surrey School District is committed to providing safe and caring environments in which all learners can achieve academic excellence, personal growth and responsible citizenship."

And, in my humble opinion, littering and polluting are NOT parts of the mandate of "responsible citizenship" or a "caring envirnoment".

If I had to give the school a grade, I would say FAIL. As with Semiahmoo, not only were the school grounds themselves highly littered, the trash and garbage was quite terribly spilling over into the lovely park and green space around the school...

I've contacted the principal of Elgin Park Secondary, Mr. Bruce Filsinger


and

The Manager of Safe Schools for SD36-Surrey Schools, Theresa Campbell
with the information recorded here.


I'd like to give the school a chance to respond and act responsibly first.


My Route today:


View Larger Map

Here is a VERY small sampling of the over 300 pictures and videos of garbage I took at and around the school. I would upload more, but blogger won't let me! If I counted cigarette butts, literally THOUSANDS of pieces of trash on or around school property! Some of really unsightly and hanging from trees and encroaching on the lovely park / green space behind the school.

Plus MANY, MANY more!