I live in BC, Canada. In a cute little city by the ocean, not far from the mountains and close to the US border.
Many people say it's one of the nicest cities in the nicest province in Canada.
In many ways I agree. I have been fortunate to have travelled a lot, and I am always happy to come home.
Lately though, whether it is due to my own shift in mindset, or whether it's a newer trend, I can't say entirely, but what I do know is that with an ever increasing frequency, the beautiful streets of our city, and those of cities around the world are getting inundated with litter and trash.
It pisses me off!!
The worst culprits seem to be the never ending stream of tossed coffee cups (Tim Horton's, Starbucks, MacDonald's) food wrappers or packaging (Potato chip bags, chocolate bar wrappers, cans and bottles) and the never ending stream of cigarette butts and cigarette packages and wrappers..
It's bad enough that we GENERATE and use all this wasteful material. The world is simply FULL of garbage... But does it need to also end up on the street? Littered carelessly and thoughtlessly?
The interesting thing that I have witnessed since I have taken note how bad it is, is that often times, the culprits are YOUNG people... As an adult, I've grown thinking the basic line of
"We need save this world for the next generation"
But frankly, some of the kids of the current generation don't seem to give a damn! A lot of the litter I have seen comes from teenagers, school kids, young adults. That is NOT to say that adults are not guilty also, but it shocks me just how little the current generation seems to care.
I live close to a local High School and I see them all the time, shopping at the local convenience store for lunch, buying chips and candy and drinks, and literally either tossing their garbage aside, or simply just dropping it as they walk. Just letting it fall out of their hands to the ground without a care.
It makes me angry. It makes me angry that people don't care enough to deposit their trash in a garbage container, sometimes only a few feet away from them. It makes me angry that we generate all this packaging in the first place. It makes me angry to think that we all seem to have this sense of entitlement to do what we please and not take responsibility for our actions.
I also firmly believe that that corporations and businesses that package their product are also responsible. I clearly remember years ago when there was an uproar about the foam packaging MacDonald's used for their burgers. People complained and those foam packages were replaced with less damaging paper wrappers.
We need to do the same now. We need to complain. And I believe we need to start with the ever increasing drink containers! Coffee cups. Wax paper cups and the incredible plethora of plastic cups, pop bottles and serving containers!!
If the corporations can not sell to responsible people, then they need to assume some corporate responsibility for the garbage they help generate!
I don't know what the answer is. Ideally, people would be responsible for items they buy and dispose of them properly. But that is NOT happening, obviously... Something else needs to done. We all need to step up to the plate here and help solve this growing problem. Or we'll end up looking like many 3rd world countries. Don't kid yourselves... this is how it starts....
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