Wawa-news.com You can't hear the 'big picture'!
May 28, 2017 @ 08:50
What is wrong with this picture? Nothing!!
Absolutely nothing — and with all the other garbage in the bush, and gravel pits. Nothing wrong to choke out natural resources with furniture, tv’s, discarded building materials, carpets and trash of every size and colour — as long as nobody sees you doing it! Even if you leave your address behind as well!
This freezer was found discarded close to the household garbage.
That I found out last week when my dog sniffed at something deep in the bush, close to a gravel road. I went to investigate what was so captivating to my dog; it was kitchen garbage, a whole bag full. K-cups, beer cans, all scattered around the area and even left a letter from Michipicoten High School with a name and address behind. How thoughtful!!
Knowing that littering is a chargeable offence, I wrote down the name and went to the police to report what I found — my hope to finally charge somebody for littering. I have been fighting and educating litterers for 25 years, and my hopes were rudely crushed by a friendly officer who asked me, “Did you witness the person doing it?”.
“No, but here is the address”, was my reply. Nicely he instructed me, “NO witness, NO crime!” Then came possible excuses that could be heard, “I gave it to my neighbour to bring to the dump!”, or the best, “A bear dragged my garbage away!”.
I was devastated and cried in my tea. I realized that we, “Garbologists” are the dummies, and that our laws and by-laws have no “teeth”, no enforcement, absolutely no meaning!
So why are we volunteers giving our time and energy to prove that we don’t live in a pigpen despite our low economy? We can be poor, but we can be clean and respectful to the place we live in.
Construction garbage dumped along the side of the road, and piles of grass.
In the name of all my helpers over the past 25 years: “Please anybody help. I don’t understand what is wrong with some of our residents, and the authorities? What can be done to stop littering?”
Karin
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I pick up litter daily in my neighbourhood. I was picking up small litter bags in an area that was frequently used by a commercial vehicle. One day, a litter bag had information confirming who was littering. I knew that the police would want to know if I saw the person litter – I had not. So, the company that owned the vehicle was not based in Wawa, so I went to see the person who hires the company to do work in the Wawa area and showed them what I found – there has not been any more litter! (I am being deliberately vague with the details). This is an example of how to stop some littering but I had to be careful and accurate in getting proof of who was doing the littering.