Ooh! Do you think this title will get some attention? If you know me really well and are a close friend you’ll know that I swear a LOT. I should have been the truck driver I always wanted to be. Because many people still think I’m a “nice girl” who was on the radio I will refrain from using really bad language on my website. I read lots of blogs and wish I had the freedom to write things exactly how I want…but I need to censor myself - so you will never see the F word here on my website. Mind you, I just started blogging in January so I reserve the right to change my mind somewhere down the line!
Ok, let’s get to today’s “rant”. These two things have been pissing me off for a LONG time and today the straw broke this camel’s back. I can’t hold it in any longer. My husband and I often come across things like this on our various driving expeditions and we always remark on the stupidity of the people who are doing these things. The top things that piss me off are:
1. City people who throw their garbage in the ditch along country roads
2. City people who dump their Christmas trees in the ditches along country roads
3. ALL people who toss their coffee cups out of the window and litter our roadways
And, for the record, you also make me shake my head when I see items that can be taken in for recycling (and you get money for them!) like plastic water bottles, beer bottles and other drink containers. Today alone, in a one hour road trip which I called my “Earth Day Expedition” I saw numerous coffee cups, energy drink cans, beer bottles and a whole lotta GARBAGE that has blown from construction sites in Saskatoon. Unfortunately, this is the worst time of year because everything that was thrown out and blown around/away throughout the winter is now stuck in trees, against fences, in ditches and fields and it looks HORRIBLE! I saw a City of Saskatoon employee out today before I started my Earth Day Expedition and he was picking up the GOBS of garbage/plastic that was along Attridge Drive. Every grouping of young trees was especially full of plastic “gunk”. I should have pulled over and thanked him for what he was doing. Even though he may have thought that picking up garbage was a bummer of a job, he’s making our city look better and he’s picking up after all the losers who’ve tossed things out their window or been too lazy to chase after a piece of garbage that falls out of their garbage can. If a Kleenex falls out of my pocket, I PICK IT UP!!! Come on people…do something to help Mother Earth. Do you want your children and grandchildren to grow up in a world full of garbage? There might be so much of it laying around in the future that they won’t even know what our natural surroundings are supposed to look like! There are NOT supposed to be plastic bags and garbage strewn about a farmer’s field in the spring - but I witnessed it numerous times today.
Ok, now I have to rant about Number’s 1 & 2 as listed above. I was SO mad I had to pull over and take a picture of this today, just to show you how bad it’s becoming on our country roads. I should be able to go for a nice drive in the country, minutes out of the city, and hear the spring birds and enjoy the wide open spaces. It started out that way until I came across THIS IN THE DITCH:
Some city idiots garbage in a country ditch. Apr 2009
I’m assuming it’s from some idiot in the city whose garbage can was too full this winter, so they just decided to toss it in the ditch outside Saskatoon. I grew up in a small Saskatchewan town and I’m pretty confident that no one from a small town/village near Saskatoon would do this. It HAS to be someone from the city! Small town people & farm raised people do not throw their garbage alongside the road. I may be wrong, but who’s gonna correct me and tell me that THEY were the culprit who dumped this and they grew up in a small town?! It makes me furious to see ONE bag of garbage thrown into a ditch….but to see all these bags today just totally sent me around the bend. I’ve posted these pictures on Facebook and here on my website. I don’t expect someone to own up to their stupidity, but if you’ve EVER done this - PLEASE STOP, AND STOP NOW! Exactly who do you think is going to pick up your garbage??! There’s no country road garbage-fairy who zips along and cleans up after dipshits like you. Someone from the RM (Rural Municipality) is likely going to get stuck picking up your crap as it rots in the ditch with flies and wasps all over the place, and maybe some maggots too.
I don’t know what else is inside those bags but I can see a lot of fast food containers from coffee cups to a KFC box, and even a parmesan cheese container. I didn’t want to get very close because there were a LOT of flies and wasps and let’s face it - I have cancer and I’m not getting close to something disgusting like this. If I had the balls I would have gone through every morsel of this garbage to find out WHO dumped it there and I’d hunt you down like wounded prey. I’d really like the police to charge you with littering and have you pay a big fat fine so maybe you’d get it through your thick skull that you just should not do this! Here’s a closer look from a ditch east of Saskatoon…
Closer view of some idiot's garbage
I could zoom into this on my photo program to list the crap that’s in this person’s garbage, but what’s the use? From what I’ve seen, it’s obvious this is household garbage from a person who eats a lot of fast food, but also eats at home. I’m shocked there weren’t any crows or magpies digging through this….but, come to think of it, they are SMARTER than the loser who thought this was a good place to dump his garbage. I’m sick of you city people taking your junk and garbage and tossing it in the ditches near Saskatoon. Call a university student to haul it to the dump - don’t haul it to your nearest country road and pitch it. Pay me a few bucks and I’ll bring over my half-ton and take your junk to the dump. I’d rather do that than see it laying on the side of a country road.
On the stretch of back road (that’s technically McOrmond) that runs from the end of 8th Street near Boychuk Homes to Wilson’s Greenhouse I’ve seen so much crap dumped in those ditches over the last 10 years it makes my blood boil. Not only have people dumped their garbage bags, but they seem to think this is a good place to leave their old furniture! This is also a favorite road for select city-idiots to dump their Christmas trees….which brings me to point number 2!
Why in the world do you people find it necessary to haul your Christmas tree to a country road near the city and toss it in the ditch? WHY??!!! We have numerous Christmas tree drop-offs throughout the city of Saskatoon where you can leave your tree after you’ve taken it down. And, if you miss the deadline just leave it in your yard until the compost depot re-opens in the spring and take it there where it can be mulched into woodchips. Your old Christmas tree does NOT belong in a ditch outside the city! Exactly why do you think this is a good place to leave it? If you are thick enough to think that it’s going to GROW there…you’re in worse shape than I thought. Your old Christmas tree has NO benefit whatsoever to our Saskatchewan wildlife. It’s another piece of garbage thrown where it shouldn’t be. I saw this lovely gem today…and it still had shiny tinsel all over it. How many birds are going to be killed because of that tinsel? IDIOT!!! Here’s just ONE of the Christmas trees I saw in the ditch today:
Some LOSER'S old Christmas tree
Now do you honestly think that looks NATURAL??! Give me a break. If you’ve got a vehicle to haul your old Christmas tree
out to a country road, you’ve got a vehicle to haul it to the Christmas tree drop-off depot or to the compost location in the spring. NO EXCUSES!
And one final rant about the garbage that gets tossed out of people’s vehicles alongside our Saskatchewan highways every day. It’s especially noticeable in the winter when the ditches are filled with bright white snow. Hundreds and hundreds of coffee cups from Tim’s, Robin’s and other quick coffee places. Why do you think it’s ok to grab a coffee to drink on your way to/from Regina/Saskatoon and then toss the cup out the window? WHY? What good is that cup doing our environment, or the overall appearance of our province and our road ways? My husband and I have literally driven to Regina and back counting coffee cups and beer bottles in the winter and the numbers are crazy. Have you never heard of having a garbage bag in your vehicle? You used to get them when you’d get an oil change. You can use pretty much ANY plastic bag that doesn’t have holes in it. Hang it from your lighter or gearshift and PUT YOUR GARBAGE IN IT. In case you haven’t noticed there are garbage cans right AT the gas pumps where you go to fill up your car. You can dump your garbage bag right there and you won’t have to take more than 10 steps to do it. We’ve got such a beautiful province of wide-open landscapes as far as the eye can see. Don’t be a Saska-whiner and take the easy way out by tossing your garbage out the window. Be a Saska-WINNER and keep our province clean. Show that you CARE.
Thanks to all the groups who go out and pick up garbage and keep our roadways clean. I wish people wouldn’t throw their junk out, but I’m thankful there are volunteers like you who are willing to do your part to make our world just a little bit nicer to live in. If the people who throw their coffee cups and other garbage out the window would stop, these volunteers could help out in other ways like delivering meals to shut-ins and the elderly, taking people to medical appointments and making a difference in a person’s LIFE….not making us ashamed of the behavior of our fellow Saskatchewanians.
And while I’m on the subject of being aware of what we’re doing to Mother Earth, watch today’s episode of Oprah (April 22, 2009), or see clips of it on
www.oprah.com. I was flabbergasted to find out that there are
TONS & TONS of GARBAGE in our OCEANS. In fact, between California and Japan there is a massive area that is ALL garbage. It’s
TWICE the size of Texas, and is
90 feet DEEP in some places. According to the expert on the show, there are many other “garbage swirls” in our oceans. Seeing the animals with plastic bags, rings etc wrapped around their bodies and seeing a turtle nibbling at plastic in the water made me cringe. After seeing the show I understand how it all got there, but what was NOT answered was what can be done about it? Surely there must be a way that some kind of salvage ship can go out and clean this stuff up! I was truly mortified. I can’t think of enough words to adequately express how sad and shocked I was seeing this. I love to snorkel and swim, I love
all animals, and I love watching the world under the sea with all it’s colorful fish and creatures. Just because it’s “out of sight” doesn’t mean we shouldn’t know it’s there. It was an eye-opening Oprah today for Earth Day. While you’re watching it, check out the clips on how much goes into the City of Los Angeles landfill every day. Or better yet, drive out to the Saskatoon landfill and see what kind of stuff people are throwing away. I guarantee you will shake your head with disgust and sadness and you will be much more aware of your garbage, recycling anything and everything you possibly can and you’ll be moved to change your habits.
Amen.