Lorna Storoschuk is right.
The Bonnyville town councillor says residents (young and old), business owners and the Town of Bonnyville itself need to be more conscious of our image and more caring about the environment.
Specifically, Storoschuk wants us to put litter in its place.
Not surprisingly, we think that's a good idea.
Yes, picking up litter is a motherhood type of issue. No disagreements there. We all know we should do a better job in this department — particularly by not littering in the first place.
Still, Storoschuk's focus on this issue is more than deserved. That's because as a community, Bonnyville doesn't exactly look like a cleaner big town set beside a pristine lake.
On the contrary, it's relatively easy to pick up a buck's worth of bottles on virtually any given day over at Slawuta Pond.
And if people are throwing a way the stuff with a deposit…
Yup. They're also throwing away all the stuff you can't easily return for cash. You know, the fast food bags and candybar wrappers — all those things that are tossed on the ground for reasons varying from laziness to stupidity to a happy blend of both.
Suggestions?
We have one. Wouldn't it be nice for some of us to return our bottles for their deposits and use the cash to buy a few garbage bags.
Then we as individuals could do a walk around our neighbourhoods and pick up trash on our own.
Why on our own? Well, working individually as citizens might just draw attention to the problem more than a group would, because we often just take group pickup efforts for granted.
While they're nice to see, they indirectly suggest to us that picking up after ourselves isn't a regular, everyday thing. The problem is, it should be.
If Storoschuk's comments on page 8 draw you to action, good for you. If they annoy you, use that to motivate yourself to do better in the community cleanup department. We'll all benefit by paying some attention and making a positive change.
