Dear Editor:
I grew up here on the North Shore and cannot believe how it has changed over the past few decades. This is a request to our community. Over the past three months, I have been working for our local highway maintenance services taking care of various requirements along Highway 1, its interchanges and our various bridges.
We who work this service sector have numerous activities and tasks to carry out to keep our roadways safe and working as designed for. At my job, I have picked up more litter, garbage and debris than is acceptable for a society that cares for its environment.
People must stop throwing fast food litter out of their vehicles, for it is abundant! Construction contractors working on the North Shore must start securing their pickup truck loads, so that empty bags and other light objects are not flying out onto our roadways. Truckers passing through need to check their loads to ensure they are secure.
I have picked up far too much litter, garbage and vehicle debris that should not be a part of our landscape and I am urging all living and working in West Vancouver and North Vancouver to do a much better job regarding their personal stewardship toward our environment. Live up to your vehicle’s licence plate that states our region is Beautiful British Columbia.
There are so many other tasks and highway maintenance services need to address beyond keeping the province beautiful, so please help us out by doing your part. Keep your citizens, contractors and service providers in check! Make sure they are securing their materials, packaging and waste if taking it off site. Place all litter in recycle or garbage cans as required. Call out those who are throwing litter from their vehicles.
Ten per cent of what we pick up on our roadways is legitimately there, meaning it was not through carelessness. The rest is due to people not caring at all about our environment and our society.
How can we as a society all move into the future in a positive way if people care so little? Please do your best to be part of the solution and stop being a part of the problem if you are contributing to the negative impact on our local environment.
Brian Wolfgang Becker
North Vancouver
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