As we know, our Mayor brought forward a motion that would see the creation of a advisory committee that will focus on creating events to pick up the trash that keep showing up in our town. Sadly enough, we didn't hear a word from our elected official and neither from our administration about how to stop some of our citizen from littering our city and park in the first place.
So far, our mayor and four city councillors have given the administration the task to define the structure and the role of this new committee. Council will receive a report of their suggestion.
When we analyze what kind of trash our own citizens dump in our city streets and parks, we find out very quickly that all that trash is basically composed of lots of…empty drinking cup of all kinds, from coffee cups to Slurpees and soft drinks (with straw or not). We also find lots of paper & plastic bags & cardboard boxes of all sizes that come from customers who bought their products mostly from all our fast food industry & convenient stores. Trash also comes at times from all the type of businesses we have.
I have seen trash laying around in the Peacock parking lots. For two years I have ask the Phoenix school on 4th Ave E to put garbage containers outside so their students have a place to put their leftovers instead of throwing them in our old hospital property. That trash gets carried away all over the place by the wind. There is still no garbage container put outside. One day as we were taking our walk, I ask some teenager to pick up the garbage they just had thrown. The response I got was, “If you don't like it pick it up yourself.”
I even asked city administration to put garbage bins at different places and to empty those left full for too long. I did stop a van to let them know that they shouldn’t have thrown a Tim Horton coffee cup on the street; there were two children in that van. I even tried to stop someone who had just emptied the ashtray from his truck on the street as he was driving by on the Athabasca underpass. I have also asked many people to stop throwing their single butts on the ground.
At one point, I asked city administration to make sure that the garbage at their garage on 3rd Ave. E that our Crescent Park worker uses doesn't end up being blown by the wind as well. A few years ago, I even asked twice a Crescent Park student-worker to take her rake & take out a plastic bag stuck in a tree. This summer we could still see pieces of that plastic bag still hanging there.
And of course, there is trash that comes from some of our residential garbage and recycling bins that were not properly secured. The same can be said in regard to some of our business garbage containers. There is also stuff that at times come out from all kinds of vehicles that could be avoided. Now we even see lots of face masks being dumped everywhere on the ground. What a shame.
Sadly enough, we all know that lots of that trash will end up in the river and trees as the rain and wind will carry them everywhere. We all know the damage that all that garbage will do to our ecosystem.
Even though we are talking about keeping our city clean of trash and to be proud of it, let's not forget that keeping our city clean also involves the discussion about our air and water pollution.
We all know how much the emission of diesel fumes, in particular, and gas, as well as others odours are all affecting our health and the cleanliness of our town. There is also farming and mining practices that may cause pollution to our fragile rivers and to our ecosystem to consider. Let's not forget also the sulphuric acid that is created when we burn natural gas, among other things. We also need to talk about those dogs owners who let their pets bark for long period of time; very unpleasant.
We all understand that they are things that may be difficult to change right now but I just want to remind people that those phenomena are here & we need to take them into consideration for our future.
Hoping to make our city clean is an idea that has been around for a very long time and it's still for sure a very noble goal but, personally, I don't believe that we need to create another administrative bureaucracy like an advisory committee to organize events to collect trash like some want to do.
We already do that, including events to collect invasive plants, as well as administration organizing events where citizens are asked to come help to cut and prune trees. Sadly enough, administration supported by past council want us to sign a waver so the city would not be responsible if we hurt our self or if we die while doing that kind of work for the city. Nice way to show how city hall cares for us.
Now I am not part of any committee, I am just as a taxpayer, a co-owner of this corporation we call Moose Jaw, and here are some free suggestions in regard to what we could do right now to get to the root cause of our trash problem without having to create any new committee to collect trash.
[Campaigns could be organized] where all the fast food and convenience stores would advertise to their customers the need for them to dispose of their food and drink containers the right way. (They could print it on their packaging?)
We as citizens, neighbours, teachers, parents, students & religious groups should have a very serious discussion with ourselves and with each other about this important subject of caring for our city.
Our Mayor could use [media opportunities] to talk about those citizen of all ages who may have forgotten how to behave properly when it comes to disposing their unwanted leftovers.
Our communication manager could have an honest discussion with our city workers and with the community about all that on their [talk platform].
Our administration could perhaps put more garbage cans in parks and on streets where there are lots of people that walk those street with often a drink or some kind of food in their hand.
[All of our media outlets] could once in a while invite people to care about their trash properly.
Another very important aspect of keeping our City clean is being careful about the kind of thoughts we create in our head and the words we use to express our views. I believe that none of us truly wants to hurt anyone or be hurt. We all have some good and bad conditioning and habits to deal with when it come to the way we act and share our view. I know for myself that I have hurt lots people with harsh words over time and I am getting better at being kind and at apologizing to those I cause pain.
I like to think that this idea of creating a new committee to keep our city clean has nothing to do with some people wanting to make a PR move to show how good and proud they are about keeping our city clean. That would surely go against the “Value and Shared Sense of Purpose “that our past city council voted 6 to 1 to implement. The mantra, “Leave your ego at the door before entering city hall “is, as we know, part of this new city hall holy book of conduct that was created not too long ago.
I personally hope that City Council will change their mind and not implement this idea of a new committee. They should receive & file the suggestion that administration will present to them in regard to this new committee. I don't think we need more bureaucratic red tape.
If any one from city hall or from the public got an inspiration for a project about anything they can contact administration or Council anytime & city hall can contact any group or citizen as they wish.
Thanks for having taken the time to ear me out,
Michel Labonte
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
