Wahoo! The snow is gone, the grass is starting to show shades of green, buds are bulging and the birds are returning! Oh how Spring is rejuvenating on so many levels. It's a great time to be alive and be outdoors and after a long winter, people in the north couldn't be happier. However, while many of us are now out and and enjoying the warmer weather and longer days it is also the rebirth of the winter mess. I am always amazed how much garbage there is in the ditches and sides of the roads as the snow melts every year. Do people think that it's okay to throw their garbage out of their vehicle in the winter because the snow will hide it? Or is it just too cold to get out of your car or truck and put your garbage in a designated disposal bin? Regardless of the reason, it is definitely an issue across Canada and not only in the North.
However, we are Canadians and we care about our environment and I have already seen many people out cleaning up the winter messes.  One of my favourite North American programs is the adopt a highway initiative that is catching on across Canada and throughout many of the States. I think it is awesome that a group such as the Girl Scouts, or Rod and Gun club or churches and even families will adopt a stretch of highway and make sure it is clean throughout the snow free months. I wish we could do this on all our roads! Yet with that said, we can. We just may not get a sign that has our name on it dedicating our devotion to a cleaner area. By this I mean, that if you are out walking a certain route daily or even in different spots, you too can help by carrying an empty shopping bag and picking up garbage as you go. Many people in the suburbs walk to get their mail and I am sure they could find at least a few things to put in their bags.
Even our local lake trails up here seem to gather the odd granola bar rapper or coffee cup. My biggest pet peeve of course is cigarette butts as they take up to 30 years to disintegrate and are truly disgusting. However, I don't recommend picking them up unless you have gloves on or some kind of device to pick up garbage.
Now with that said if you are using shopping bags to pick up garbage make sure they are tied securely before throwing them in the trash bins as they tend to come undone when they get to the landfill and if they are empty they turn in to little ugly kites that fly up in to the trees....
In the end, even one bag full of garbage is a big help and imagine if everyone did just that! What a clean world we would live in!
So as Spring spreads across this incredible country I hope everyone can take a few minutes out of one of their days to get some fresh air, exercise and even help keep Canada clean.