Belts of tin cans and litter
Mo Laidlaw
Stephen Leacock was talking about the “new railways” in the 1880s and 1890s when he wrote, “All over Canada, between the vanishing beauty of nature and the later beauty of civic adornments, there extends this belt of tin cans and litter.” Unfortunately over a hundred years later our highways and residential streets have extended these linear dumping grounds.
Several groups of residents in Pontiac have organized cleanup days to remove litter and spruce up their neighbourhoods.
In Breckenridge on May 10, 25 to 30 people of all ages turned up to pick up an unbelievable mountain of trash on Cedarvale, Adrien Renaud roads, chemin des Oies, and Terry Fox Road between highway 148 and the Ottawa River. Their efforts also included the former rail-line between Terry Fox and Boulders Road.
Pierre and Michelle Larose organized this cleanup and wish to congratulate and thank all their helpers.
[Photo]
Some of the Cedarvale cleanup crew
[Photo]
A mountain of trash and tires
Jamie Laidlaw, helped by son Adam, cleaned both sides of highway 148 that cuts through his farm in Breckenridge, as well as part of Maple Lane, the first weekend in May. They brought back 12 bags of garbage as well as many “donated” bottles and cans worth 5¢ or more each. Broken bottles are dangerous to livestock and wildlife and damage farm equipment.
Our thanks go to all these residents for their civic pride.
The highway is a target for fast food containers, bottles and cigarette packets, while hidden areas in residential streets seem to encourage dumpers of tires and building waste. As we now know, as well as being unsightly and a fire hazard, dumped tires are great breeding areas for the Culex mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus.
The municipality has just adopted a “nuisance” bylaw to reduce pollution and encourage beautification. This is a great opportunity not only to clean up our surroundings but to try and keep them that way.
Please don’t litter. Take your litter home or to a garbage container, and take old building materials to the dump. Our highways, streets and pathways do not have to be “belts of tin cans and litter.”



Corvée de nettoyage
Samedi le 10 mai dernier, un groupe de résidents du quartier #7 se sont regroupés pour effectuer une corvée de nettoyage dans leur voisinage. Quelque 25 à 30 personnes - hommes, femmes et enfants - se sont pointés pour ramasser tous les déchets des deux côtés du chemin Terry Fox entre la 148 et la rivière, les chemins Cedarvale, Adrien Renaud et des Oies au complet. Même la voie ferrée entre le chemin Terry-Fox et le chemin Boulders a été ratissé.
Les organisateurs, Pierre et Michelle Larose, félicitent et remercient sincèrement tous les participants.