Irony of ironies
Sometimes I swear litter mocks me. The very next day after sending a letter on my favourite subject to the editor of our local newspaper, litter is in my face yet again.
You can see my letter in its entirety on my Shlog. In it I made reference to careless newspaper and flyer delivery contributing to the litter stream. Overall I was urging the media outlet to use its influence to reshape littering behaviors. This particular newspaper wrote an editorial about Earth Day without using it as an opportunity to nudge readers to not litter. In fact the words ‘litter’ and ‘littering’ completely escaped a mention. Unfortunately, this is a norm.
I live close to my mother and keep her beautiful expanse of lawns and gardens litter-free, hauled out a few bags full some weeks ago. True to my letter to the editor, what awaited me on the concrete pad leading to the steps of mom’s front door? It was a double inside page of the same newspaper I had written to, part of the Metroland chain, owned by the Toronto Star.
Retrieving the littered paper, I took a closer look. The dominant headline brought an irony-smacking grimace to my face. A full page story with colour photo and the title blazing: “Residents help keep community clean.“
Yes, litter mocks, litter taunts.
Sometimes I swear litter mocks me. The very next day after sending a letter on my favourite subject to the editor of our local newspaper, litter is in my face yet again.
You can see my letter in its entirety on my Shlog. In it I made reference to careless newspaper and flyer delivery contributing to the litter stream. Overall I was urging the media outlet to use its influence to reshape littering behaviors. This particular newspaper wrote an editorial about Earth Day without using it as an opportunity to nudge readers to not litter. In fact the words ‘litter’ and ‘littering’ completely escaped a mention. Unfortunately, this is a norm.
I live close to my mother and keep her beautiful expanse of lawns and gardens litter-free, hauled out a few bags full some weeks ago. True to my letter to the editor, what awaited me on the concrete pad leading to the steps of mom’s front door? It was a double inside page of the same newspaper I had written to, part of the Metroland chain, owned by the Toronto Star.
Retrieving the littered paper, I took a closer look. The dominant headline brought an irony-smacking grimace to my face. A full page story with colour photo and the title blazing: “Residents help keep community clean.“
Yes, litter mocks, litter taunts.
April 22, 2014 If you want to know what it means to have a good Earth Day, go into a school and sing your songs about litter with hundreds of children from Junior Kindergarten to Grade Six joining in. The power of song is remarkable in its own right, but coupled with our litter prevention and awareness message it is as close to magic as you can get without the wand and bunny. I will be editing the audio from our 45-minute presentation and hope to post a few excerpts from it soon. What you will hear are voices of an enthusiastic and diverse group of children ringing out an endorsement for participatory edu-tainment: education and entertainment as one, broadly appealing and universally necessary, not to mention incredibly effective.
April 17, 2014 Good news to report. I have been granted my long-sought meeting with McDonald's Restaurants of Canada. Instead of accepting 'no' for an answer, I pressed for a 'yes' and must have left the impression that I wasn't going away. Wouldn't it be nice if one of the big fast food giants took a bite out of litter as part of an awareness campaign and became a leader rather than an artful dodger?
Rogers Community 10 is devoting resources to film the Litter Prevention Program in action next Tuesday for future broadcast in the Toronto area. A crew will be following us around for half a day.
Rogers Community 10 is devoting resources to film the Litter Prevention Program in action next Tuesday for future broadcast in the Toronto area. A crew will be following us around for half a day.
April 11, 2014 I was hoping for meat in the sandwich after sending a letter to the top of the McDonald's Canada food chain asking for a conversation about litter. That was back on June 28, 2013. After many follow-up emails to the company, the CEO's point guard on sustainability handed me an empty bag. No meeting. No interest. No, wait!
On closer read of McDonald's artful dodge - I'm "on file". Take heart, folks, or at least another bite of that burger. When McDonald's "is working on an issue directly, such as litter (the company takes) that opportunity to reach out to the stakeholders who have identified themselves and begin the discussions at that time," says a reply I extracted from the corporate manager of sustainability and government relations.
As you can see from my photo, a scene I happened upon yesterday by accident (and coincidence), McDonald's has reason to respond to its role in the litter culture. The sustainability guy's parting line gave me the comfort of a plate of cold fries. "I have kept your information on-file and will certainly reach out to you when we begin any new initiatives or research related to this important issue."
My beef is that these guys don't have to come to the table when called. They are unaccountable and will enjoy that status for as long as possible. Should I give up? Right, then, on to Burger King.
On closer read of McDonald's artful dodge - I'm "on file". Take heart, folks, or at least another bite of that burger. When McDonald's "is working on an issue directly, such as litter (the company takes) that opportunity to reach out to the stakeholders who have identified themselves and begin the discussions at that time," says a reply I extracted from the corporate manager of sustainability and government relations.
As you can see from my photo, a scene I happened upon yesterday by accident (and coincidence), McDonald's has reason to respond to its role in the litter culture. The sustainability guy's parting line gave me the comfort of a plate of cold fries. "I have kept your information on-file and will certainly reach out to you when we begin any new initiatives or research related to this important issue."
My beef is that these guys don't have to come to the table when called. They are unaccountable and will enjoy that status for as long as possible. Should I give up? Right, then, on to Burger King.
April 4, 2014 - I live close to my mother. Yesterday I picked up all the litter around her sizable yard, a chore she used to give me as a girl, but doesn't remember now because of an aging mind hobbled by Alzheimer's. She has become an environmental extremist (always was) to the point where she views flushing the toilet with the handle as wasting water. Her preferred method is manually, with a pail of water saved in the bathtub from her morning shower.
I make this point about her environmentalism to underscore the improbability of her ever generating any loose litter. She recycles vigorously, composts religiously, reuses to the point of ridiculousness and fills a garbage bag every few months or so. Her electricity bill is $50 a month. Yet I managed to stuff several plastic grocery bags full of litter retrieved from her property, fighting wind, entanglement and bush branches to do so. I also cleared some stray pieces from another front lawn of a home whose owner is physically disabled.
Litterers victimize everyone with their garbage and defacement, but they pick on the frail, ill or aging the most. Just my observation.
I make this point about her environmentalism to underscore the improbability of her ever generating any loose litter. She recycles vigorously, composts religiously, reuses to the point of ridiculousness and fills a garbage bag every few months or so. Her electricity bill is $50 a month. Yet I managed to stuff several plastic grocery bags full of litter retrieved from her property, fighting wind, entanglement and bush branches to do so. I also cleared some stray pieces from another front lawn of a home whose owner is physically disabled.
Litterers victimize everyone with their garbage and defacement, but they pick on the frail, ill or aging the most. Just my observation.
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