Editorial: We cleaned it – let’s keep it this way

Last Wednesday town staff, business owners, students and residents gathered together for one common cause – cleaning up Morinville. Operation Clean Sweep, Morinville’s contribution to Pitch-In Canada’s nationwide initiative to clean up our own backyards is a noble endeavour designed to make Morinville look a little better to residents and visitors.

Having walked the streets as a resident, it has always troubled me to see garbage lying in the streets, more so when I see it in the process of actually being tossed on the ground. But having spent some time last Wednesday as one of the many volunteers who decided to pitch-in, what I saw was pretty disgusting in some cases and dangerous in others.

Our crew was assigned the arena area and splash park. I’ve spent a lot of time at the arena over the years and been to the splash park when some event is going on that needs to be photographed. Although we were surprised there was much less garbage than we thought there would be, what we found was disturbing in that the non-wind-blown debris showed an utter disrespect for community property.

In some areas an hour could have been spent picking up the copious cigarette remnants, a bit of debris that can be found virtually anywhere in town. Gatorade bottle tops were another common item scattered here and there throughout the arena and park area as well as plenty of bits of broken glass.

If people want to cast off a plastic bottle top because they are too lazy to walk 15 feet to a garbage can – that is one thing – but broken glass in a place where children play is unforgivable.

Littering our streets is not limited to one age group, gender or state of intoxication, but it is unnecessary in all instances. Hopefully the new garbage cans and recycling bins the Town of Morinville has installed in the community will be used for their intended purpose and that we will not see them as a wind stops for garbage blowing around town.

But if I have to walk through a pile of litter to get to where I’m going, I’d much prefer to trample over candy bar wrappers and discarded cigarette packages than dodge the gobs of saliva some slob decided to launch in the middle of the sidewalk or shop entrance.

I do not know where this fad of spitting wherever one pleases comes from, but like the litter problem is one site this community could do with a little less of.

Lots of people spent a good chunk of Wednesday beautifying this community. Let’s not spit in their faces by dropping our leftovers be they food, paper, plastic of bodily fluids on the sidewalks and pathways of Morinville.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

2 Comments

  1. Great job everyone! Excellent effort put into this clean-up project. Now if only businesses would put the lids on their garbage and recycling dumpsters, the streets could stay cleaner for longer!

  2. I was unable to help with the Town clean-up, thank you to all the ones that did. I have often walked thru Morinville with the eyes of a visitor, and have been ashamed at the unkept properties, bussiness’es and private homes. I have lived here for over 45 years, and when I take a trip to Norway,(my birthplace), where you find everybody take pride in their properties, I wonder, what is wrong in this town. This year as we celebrate 100 years, let us pull up our socks and keep the town nice.

Comments are closed.