A Conversation of Hope

I stumbled upon the following question and answer conversation online. It's worth sharing.

Zag asks, "Is it sensible to give up hope for the environment?" and continues, "I care passionately about our natural world, but watching its steady and relentless demise over the decades is depressing. Is it sensible to give up on it now, or is there still time and is it still possible, considering the nature of humanity, to save the natural world from total destruction? Does the human race have the capacity to save large areas of the natural environment? It doesn't look like it to me..."

Andy responds with the following quotes and advise:

We may be fighting a losing battle, but we are having a lot of fun trying to win (old folk song).

If we all give up on trying to save the environment, that pretty much guarantees a negative result. But if we keep on trying, we have some chance that we will win.

If you dedicate your life to fighting and working to make human civilization sustainable, you've given your life a framework around which you can build knowledge, courage, intellectual integrity, curiosity, generosity, and a passion for teamwork - - - all of them admirable character traits.

You are going to spend your whole life doing SOMETHING, in any case.

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Likewise, "Is it sensible to just give up on cleaning the litter that is dumped in the environment?" Seeing the litter that ends up back on the street sides & green spaces in our community days, hours and sometimes moments after you have cleaned up the litter and properly disposed of it, can be, well, depressing!

One of the first things I say to volunteers who come out to community litter clean-ups is don't be discouraged when you see litter back in the environment where you just spent hours cleaning it up - because it WILL happen! And don't think that you aren't making a difference - because you are - even if for a day that area is litter free - you are reducing the amount of garbage in the environment - all of which eventually ends up in our waterways. Also, litter begets litter - so if a section of the city is cleaned from time to time - people will think twice about throwing their litter in a tidy section as opposed to a section that already consists of garbage debris. But more importantly, getting out there and cleaning the streets shows leadership in litter control - and most people learn by watching what other people do. If motorists and pedestrians witness a group of volunteers busy cleaning up litter - they are more likely to think about the problem of litter in the community - what is more - that cleaning it up is a community affair. Participating in litter control also adds to the safety and well-being of our children and animals - that otherwise might hurt themselves on dangerous/hazardous litter items. Finally, getting out there and being active in litter control promotes positive environmental awareness, it sends a strong message to the community about ecological citizenship and fosters civic pride among community members alike.

So then, the answer is NO - it is definitely not sensible to 'give up' on litter control or any other environmental activity because environmental integrity at times seems unattainable. We make a difference in every effort; even though it may seem small and insignificant, we are changing the world one water ripple outward at a time.

Yellow Vested Volunteers Active in Mission

This year's Celebration of Community theme is "Active Mission" and what better way to show how active Mission is than to show up to the event wearing your yellow volunteer vest! This year, Mission Adopt-A-Block invites all volunteers and litter control supporters to meet at the Bell Tower at 1:30PM (in Mission Heritage Park) during the Celebration of Community for a landmark group photograph. It is the society's hope to show the community just how 'active' Adopt-A-Block is, in litter control that is. Come out and support the society and show your colours in a large group photo!

P.S. Vests will also be supplied at event.

We are active in litter control in Mission, B.C. Volunteers at the Spring 2009 Clean-Up.

Mission is Moving Mountains!

Mission is moving mountains...of litter, that is!


June 01, 2009, the District of Mission made it mandatory that residential curb side garbage be secured in litter bins, and to be no longer left on the curb side in plastic bags. The purpose of this change is to reduce the amount of litter caused by animals (crows, dogs, racoons, etc.) that rummage through curb side garbage! The implication of this change is incredible, as much of the litter in Mission's residential neighbourhoods is caused by the poor handling of and disposal of curb side garbage - and plastic bags make it all to easy for animals to rip apart to get their tasty 'midnight snack'. A round of applause and a standing ovation to the District of Mission for initiating this significant change in curb side garbage collection 'behavior' - another great step towards reducing litter in the environment.

Saying good-bye hasn't been this much fun!

Businesses Building Hope

It's heartening when businesses think of 'litter control' as a volunteer opportunity and as a means to contribute to the good of the community. Businesses can play a big role in modeling ecological citizenship to others!

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Mission's Royal Bank chose to participate in a clean-up of Railway Ave. and the West Coast Express station area as a part of their bank's National Community Week (June 22-26) agenda. Two by two, bank employees all took turns tidying up neighbouring areas, collecting bags of litter and properly disposing of it. Adopt-A-Block's colorful vests, pickers and blue bags were proudly used in this successful community contribution. Imagine spending an hour of your work day volunteering, getting outside, contributing to the health and well-being of the community, being a role model in environmental action... Can anyone say, team building and employee moral booster?

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Adopt-A-Block is pleased to recognize Starbucks (Mission Junction) as the Society's first formally registered volunteer 'business' in litter control. In June 2009, the Starbucks team adopted the heavily littered route of London Ave., the main access road that takes all traffic coming and going from the Junction. This street is not only a hotpsot due to its location to 'food on the go' retailers and its function as a joining street between the main highway, commercial areas and the industrial area nearby; but Lane Creek, a sensitvie salmon habitat runs in the same neighbourhood. All litter tossed into the ditches along this street ends up in this sensitve waterway to some degree at some point. The Starbucks team engages in litter clean up of this significant litter route once a month. Every contribution helps! Now just think of the implications if each business in the Junction followed suit and joined this litter collection action!

This litter is headed for one destination and one destination only, the sensitive salmon habitat of Lane Creek! What's wrong with this picture? (Picture: Ditch along London Ave. 2007) Thanks to volunteers like the Starbucks team cleaning up messes like this - you are making a difference!

A System of Hope

It is easy to let hopelessness wash over you when you take a closer look at the green spaces in our community where flora is decorated with litter items including fast food wrappings, cigarette butts and numerous decaying garbage articles.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard comments along the lines of, "the litter shouldn't be there in the first place, people should know better, our leaders should do something to make people think twice about littering like slap litterbugs with tougher penalties" and so on. I could ramble on at this point about why people litter, this would include a long list of psychological, socioeconomic, and other reasons as to why litter is a problem we face today. But all I will tell you is that, you don't know what you got until you don't have it or rather, you don't know what you got, until you compare it to what others have or do not have.

And what I have found is that we can truly be thankful for the systems in place to manage our garbage. These systems make it possible for us to dispose our garbage in the first place! I'm talking about the fact that we can put our garbage out on the curb and have it properly disposed of at a landfill site; and the cherry on top, we have curb side recycling and composting in Mission, B.C. We have it so good, we don't even know it. What would our green spaces look like if this system was not in place? I can imagine. When I travelled to Nigeria in 2007 I witnessed this predicament.

Shel Silverstein's "Sarah Stout" who would not take the garbage out would find Nigeria a most desirable home. There, no one takes the garbage out. Garbage lines the streets, the ditches, the corn fields, the markets, the hillsides, the street embankments; it is simply everywhere. Imagine the stink. Imagine the unsightly landscape. In Nigeria, there is no waste management system in place; there is no landfill for that matter. There is litter everywhere because there is no litter bins to toss garbage into in the first place, and no designated place to take the garbage even if it were put in the trash. (Notwithstanding obvious reasons for Nigeria's impoverished landscapes such as poverty, corrupt governments, etc.) On one hand, witnessing the environmental degradation of litter in places like Nigeria generates further hopelessness; on the other hand, it carries a message of hope. The message of hope is obvious, we live in a country where our government invests in a system to manage our waste. It may not be perfect, but it exists. Perhaps, when we can see 'what we have' here in Mission, B.C. and seeing what it would look like if we 'did not have' - we can not only feel hope again about the state of the environment and the problem of litter - but we may also be able to help developing countries to develop workable and affordable waste management systems.

Litter in the waterways... (Jos, Nigeria)

Litter forms road embankments... (Jos, Nigeria)

Litter fills urban spaces... (Jos, Nigeria)