I was up Pipeline Rd today checking out that area for the first time in several years. It's sad how much the roadside and river bank are used as dumping grounds. I almost ran into an SUV with a Christmas tree on top on the way out. The guy must've been looking off the side of the road for a good place to dump it. Sure, a Christmas tree doesn't do any harm but the guy probably makes trips up there all the time to get rid of stuff. I'll be there to help out but it seems kind of futile to have to do this every year. We pay taxes to have our garbage picked up, pay fees for disposing all the other stuff that doesn't get picked up and then have to volunteer to pick up after morons who have no respect for our environment. I'm sure the amount of illegal dumping skyrocketed when the City stopped the annual Spring pick up. Any brilliant solutions out there?
Great you can help out. No easy answers unless the government takes a harder stance by clamping down on these people that abuse the environment day in and day out.
We can only do what we can to keep some of our rivers clean the best we can like many of us do on the Chilliwack Vedder River where we have taken 72.87 tonnes off its banks since we started the Chilliwack Vedder River Cleanup Society in 2001 where we have held 33 cleanups. One could imagine how this river system would look it all that amount of garbage was still there. Unfortunately some fisher need to do a better job of taking their stuff away too instead of just dumping it on the ground.
Yesterday I cleaned up about 50 pounds of garbage left by the Hydro Bridge on the Vedder, piled in the riparian zone, to be washed down river during the next high water event.
Good work to those putting on your cleanup this Sunday and good on you for helping out too. Lets hope for a good turnout by users of this river.
Check out the CVRC's web site at
www.cleanrivers.ca if you want more information on our Adopt a River program.