by ROSS BALLARD
The other day I went out for a walk in the trees with my dog.
The forest is only a few blocks from my house and is one of my favourite places in the valley for harvesting berries and mushrooms throughout the summer and fall.
Just off the road I passed an old beer can and a minute later I thought to myself, “I should have picked that up,” so I resolved to pick up the next piece of garbage I found.
Coincidently enough, the next piece I found was an empty plastic grocery bag snagged on a pine tree blowing in the wind.
“This was meant to be,” I said to myself and further resolved to pick up all the trash I found on my walk. I filled one grocery bag and then another, which I had also found.
Then I came across an empty 40 Lb. manure bag and stuffed it full of garbage, All of which I found in less than a kilometer!
The trash consisted of 90 per cent plastic; most of which was either grocery bags or lumber wrapping. I also found a bike tire, a rubber kitchen glove and a set of ear buds from an old Walkman.
To say the least, I was fairly disgusted with how much crap was blowing around in the trees. The purpose of this piece is to bring this to the attention of anyone in the community who cares about the health of our ecosystem.
The first thing you can do is make sure your trash is stored properly in a garbage can with a good lid. This will prevent the wind from blowing loose plastic away and keep the ravens from making a complete mess.
The next time you go for a hike, a bike, or even a walk around the block, bring a garbage bag and do your part! You will be amazed at how much trash is laying around.
In a healthy ecosystem trash sticks out like a sore thumb so give Mother Nature a hand by lending yours to get rid of litter on our streets and in our forests.
This is Ross Ballard reminding you that many hands make light work so please do your part for the natural health of the Robson Valley ecosystem.
