Sir: Re: “Local man adopts rural roads,” in the Sept. 26 Chatham Voice, kudos to Richard Carnell, and to Bruce Corcoran to publish that excellent article on what Richard is doing to keep Chatham clean.
We need many more like Richard, not necessarily to pick up someone else’s garbage, but their own.
I have said before the downtown core is very good, but if you get away from there, it’s a garbage dump on many roads and alleys.
I was in the Nortown Plaza at the bus shelter on St. Clair Street recently. There were cups, plastic bottles, food wrappers, etc. lying inside. So I kicked it into a pile. I had gloves on and picked it up and put it in the nearest garbage can. Would you believe it was about 30 feet south of the bus shelter?
I think it’s mostly youth who do the littering. They certainly are not going to walk 30 feet to a garbage container. Nor will anyone else.
I believe the city is looking at moving the trash can closer to the shelter, or putting one inside, with a lid.
Yes, Richard, I’m afraid, like you say, it’s too much to ask them to take it with them.
And I’m sure putting up a sign at a fast-food restaurant is a great idea, but I expect it would get ignored like most laws.
It’s also like the sign at the above-mentioned bus shelter: “No smoking within four metres.” The ground inside the shelter had many cigarette butts on it.
Another day while waiting for the bus in that same shelter, I saw someone smoking just outside of it, with the smoke drifting inside the shelter. And if you say anything, you get a look that could kill, or are called a name.
It seems today some people don’t have pride in anything.
Ruth Draper
Chatham
