Go, Go Garbage Ranger!!!!!!!

Canadians pride themselves on having such a clean country. At least that’s what beer commercials tell us. Canada the pristine, natural, raw, wild. I’ve noticed that in my travels around the country (in a previous musical life) that in many places, that is no longer the case.
 
A lot of the research that I was able to find centered around the amount of waste that we, as Canadians, produce each year. That in and of itself is shockingly bad. According to a recent study, Canadians produce more garbage per person than any other country on earth. Think about that. Number 1. There is simply no excuse for that, despite our cold climate and large landmass.

Digging further led me to many sources where Earth Day cleanups were being planned or promoted. This is great. It raises awareness that there is a problem. But isn’t that relatively new cliché, Everyday is Earth Day, supposed to hold true? Why do people litter? Why don’t more people (pre-Covid) pick up that half empty bottle of water on the sidewalk or that McD’s nugget box? Everyone (Covid times) carries sanitizer now…..
The Ocean Clean-up is a fantastic initiative. I am so impressed by what they have accomplished and what they are going to accomplish. In Canada, however, there is really no excuse for us not to throw our daily trash out when coming from Timmie’s...it’s simply laziness. A lot of the trash we throw on the ground eventually ends up in Lake Ontario. Do people know this? Do they care?

The biggest issue I have concerning my Genius Hour Q, is why. Why do people consistently litter? When did we become a society that simply ceased to care about our communities? There are many groups that organize clean ups and that is fantastic. Who is trying to stop this from happening in the first place? What actually works? Where do I find that information?
This led me to this fantastic site:
https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/litter-flytipping/top-campaigns

How can I encourage my community to care? 

This video is a great example of a community group that is actively urging people to think about their actions. The benefit is a cleaner environment and more community activity and involvement. 

Sounds pretty good to me.

I will be starting my litter pickups this week. I will also be looking at what I can do to encourage others to stop the problem before it begins. Perhaps this could lead to a happier, healthier, more active and open community, while at the same time making our parks and streets cleaner. 

https://vimeo.com/220613478

This week I will be looking at how TikTok can help me increase awareness of our litter problem .

Sites I visited this week -

Interceptor - Rivers

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canadians-produce-more-garbage-than-anyone-else-1.1394020

https://www.crcresearch.org/solutions-agenda/waste#b

https://www.ontario.ca/page/act-on-litter#foot-1