In Nova Scotia, litter increased by 21% between 2004 and 2009. Garbage is now found on every beach, and beside every road. This has started in my lifetime. Even my most private and sacred places have been violated by litterers. I believe the lasting visible presence of people who do neither care about their landscape, nor appreciate the importance of keeping Cape Breton Island beautiful is psychol
ogically very painful to the rest of us. Unfortunately, the effect is a hard thing to quantify. In the face of overwhelming amounts of rubbish, it is easy to become apathetic and choose not do anything at all. The government does not have the resources to solve the problem. One day, I decided to try to pick up two pieces of litter a day, because I could not stand to do nothing, needed to feel better, and did not want to harbour my hate and disgust. I make it a minimum of two (on average), and throw the refuse in my own garbage at home. All I need are a couple of bags and a pair of gloves in the car trunk. After doing this for a while, I began to feel better. At least I was doing something. I also found I was picking up more than two. If I miss some days, I go fill up a bag. One day it occurred to me that if I could convince others to care enough to engage in that little act, and maybe get someone else involved, the effect could be magnified geometrically. So here we are, as my husband David was the person who I tried to sell on the idea first. He's a knight in shining armour, to me as is anyone who adopts this habit. My husband David and I have a presentation about litter, and our simple plan to get rid of it. We will happily come and speak to any group of any age people who might be interested and willing to listen. We have always felt that change starts in our own back yard, and feel this is a great way to empower people to fight negative forces that diminish the quality of our lives.
