A few times a week – weather and time permitting – I walk with my son along the same gravel road in Litchfield. Aside from an opportunity for us to get some fresh air, the walk allows me to take a break and get some exercise while enjoying some of the landscape the Pontiac prides itself on, as well as some of its wildlife.
A few times a week – weather and time permitting – I walk with my son along the same gravel road in Litchfield. Aside from an opportunity for us to get some fresh air, the walk allows me to take a break and get some exercise while enjoying some of the landscape the Pontiac prides itself on, as well as some of its wildlife.
Indeed, the Pontiac’s countryside is beautiful, especially in the fall with the changing leaves, and in the winter when everything is crisp and clean. Unfortunately, when spring rolls around, it’s a different story. As the blanket of snow disappears, the tendency of some residents to use the back road as a dumpster becomes shockingly apparent once an entire season’s worth of
littering is uncovered. No longer is it a pretty picture when mountains of coffee cups, cigarette packages, soda cans, garbage bags, and pizza boxes are no longer concealed.
Without a doubt, not all of the trash was left there intentionally. Given that the road is often used to transport garbage to the municipal dump, some loose items could have blown from vehicles without the driver realizing it. However, the vast majority of the litter can be attributed to people’s intentional carelessness as they clean out their vehicles while driving, dump entire bags full of trash along the road instead of taking it to the dump, or ‘dispose’ of materials such as furniture and tires that are not accepted freely (or at all) at some municipal dumps. This problem is not limited to this one road in Litchfield; many of the Pontiac’s roads, beaches, highways, parks, and waterways
experience the same issue.
Given the characteristics of today’s society, it is surprising that littering is still a problem. For the most part, we are a society of germ-conscience people who pride ourselves on neat, clean surroundings and stigmatize those who don’t value the same; millions of people tune in to TV shows such as hoarders to watch in awe (and to express their disgust) at some of the cluttered, unsanitary conditions some people live in. Yet, some of these same people won’t think twice to litter. What’s the difference? Why is it acceptable that our environment look like a dump, but not our homes, yards, or vehicles?
Thankfully, many municipalities organize roadside and public land cleanups at different times of the year where they will provide the bins or bags needed to collect the trash and will take care of picking up the rubbish and disposing of it – the Municipality of Pontiac, Chapeau, and Bristol have already started. I applaud these efforts, but more is needed. I’m not suggesting a crusade to clean up every back road, park, highway, or beach in the country – although that would be a nice thought – I am asking that we clean up our acts which led to the problem in the first place!
Allyson Beauregard, Editor
