Garbage
Putting the garbage out once per week is an essential thing to do. Here in Norgate in the District of North Vancouver, many of us used to put our bins out on the street the night before they were due to be picked up. It was a time saving thing which effectively managed any slow moving morning mood or saved those of us who have energetic, non-procrastinating partners starting the day at break neck speed. I am a Clydesdale married to a racing thoroughbred, I don’t do rushing well but I do watching rushing less well! Having lived here for 30 years our garbage bins have never been broken into. No animal has managed to master the clips on top, a raccoon with all its natural finger deftness, is not adept enough to succeed. One bear has been seen down here in our neighbourhood in the last thirty years and one bear alone. So when the District slapped stickers on our bins warning us of fines if we put our garbage out on the night before pick up, I could not understand where they were coming from. Our garbage bins are but 15 steps from the road. Last time I looked no raccoon, skunk or crow had any respect for our boundaries. Was garbage spillage less likely in our driveway than on the street? Irene and I thought about putting up a sign addressing the wildlife in the area, saying something like “Thou shalt not cross”. But animals that read!? I think not.
Then I went for my usual walk and found at least three public garbage bins with their contents strewn across the sidewalk. Crows had gotten into the MacDonald’s wrappers, four leggeds had feasted on the salt-clad detritus, the District of North Vancouver’s public bins were not proof against the wildlife, whereas the household ones are.
The other day I came across a couple of council workers who were tidying up the green growth on the creek bank of Mackay Creek. It is true to say that over the last few years the council has worked very hard to restore this lovely little stream so much so that now it has resident beavers, an elegant heron, ducks and ducklings. There are fish, although the only one that I have seen has been belly up, very dead. Walking there one moves to the left off the tarmacked Spirit Trail and one is suddenly away from road traffic into a haven of verdant vegetation.
I complimented the young workers on the job they had done on behalf of the green agenda in our neighbourhood but mentioned that I was concerned about yet another strewing of the contents of the public garbage bin at the trail/wood junction. The two workers immediately went into how I should contact the District about housing the homeless because that was the real problem. It is true that homelessness is becoming more and more prevalent. It is also true that I have no evidence of who or what had emptied the garbage bin. It could have been an homeless person but in the instances and places I have walked I don’t believe it. To me it is very obviously the local wildlife.
This little vignette got me thinking about how so many of us human beings have a tendency to become focused on single issues. Often those problems, worthy of solutions, remain unsolved because the bigger picture gets lost. There is absolutely no point in the ‘bear lady’ presenting at a zoom council meeting about bear proofing our garbage when the District’s public bins are open to any passing bruin who is feeling a mite peckish. The bear who did make it here never made it home to tell his mates of the edible bonanza he had found. It seems to me that the District of North Vancouver is placing a paper parasol on a cocktail rather than an all-encompassing golf umbrella. There is a bigger picture out there which does not involve picking on local residents who have never been irresponsible with their garbage bins. Sadly. we leave lack of due diligence to the District and its garbage bins. 2000 years ago Greek sculptors devoted as much time and skill to the backs of their statues as the fronts, the District of North Vancouver needs to take a leaf out of their book.
Ho hum, I know that this blog has been a complete load of old, rotting garbage, but, Dear Reader, I have standards to keep up.
Be safe, friends.
6 Replies to “Garbage”
Hi Peter,
Oh so true! Even here, back in the “old country”, councils are fixing broken legs with a “bandaid”. I guess it must be the same all over?
Maybe some of the readers will let us know. An enjoyable read again😄!
Martin
Yes, it’s all why use a teaspoon when a hammer will do! Thanks for taking the time, Martin.
Agreed! I think we may have too much ‘garbage’ in our lives!! Paul
Yes, you and I grew where there was no such thing as garbage, it was all a load of old rubbish was it not? Thanks for taking the time, Paul.
A wildlife garbage story….Up the hill from Norgate we are closer to wildlife. We have first hand experience of a bear prying up the cover on our garbage can. It dragged out a bag of eggs that had once been frozen then enjoyed a few hot days in the can. The bear made quite a mess but the awful smell was quite something. Took some hosing of the driveway to get rid of both. The bear then climbed our fence and left a healthy deposit in our backyard. We have pictures to prove it. We were home at the time so heard the commotion with the can then witnessed the bear come over the fence. Bear sightings on our street happen several times every year.
I guess that’s because you live in the back of beyond, Miss H. We, however, live in the civilized world here in Norgate! Thanks for writing and reading.