Our natural environment is worth taking care of, and it's reassuring to know there are people out there that will spend time and effort to take care of and clean up a world polluted by so much waste and degradation.
Our natural environment is worth taking care of, and it's reassuring to know there are people out there that will spend time and effort to take care of and clean up a world polluted by so much waste and degradation.
This past week, tens of thousands of volunteers across the country took action and spent a morning or afternoon cleaning up one of Canada's numerous shorelines, as part of the 2013 Fall Cleanup week, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the annual Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup.
Each year, around this time, residents get together along a lakeshore, riverbank, or the edge of a stream or pond and pick up the trash left to pollute the area.
In 2012, more than 57,000 people picked up more than 136,000 kilograms of trash and recyclables along Canadian shorelines.
This past Sunday, a group of about ten people from the Bonnyville area got together with representatives from the Beaver River Watershed Alliance to clean up the shores of Jessie Lake and Slawuta Pond. In just over two hours of cleaning and socializing, the group gathered about a dozen bags of trash and recyclables.
The day before, another volunteer group tackled the trash along the shores of Cold Lake.
Although it is reassuring to know there are many dedicated, caring people out there willing to do this type of work in order to live in a more natural environment, it is certainly troubling to consider the amount of trash picked up year after year.
Just like this past Sunday, people will be out again next year around this time, gloves on and trash in hand, cleaning up around Jessie Lake and so many other shorelines across the country.
Perhaps instead of relying on those caring individuals to cleanup after a sloppy few. The whole herd of humans could get on board with ensuring trash is actually tossed into a trash container and recyclables are actually recycled, rather than carelessly polluting the planet.
We are lucky to have for the most part a still-beautiful habitat here in the Lakeland. Let's all do our part to ensure it at least stays that way.
Better yet, let's work to bring this area back to a more natural state, with strong thriving forests and healthy abundant lakes.
