Dear Editor:
On Tuesday, May 10th, my wife and I travelled to Canmore, Alberta, for the first time this year. I was disgusted with what I saw. Trails of garbage empty cans, liquor bottles, and oil jugs littered the sides of Highway 93 in our Kootenany National Park.
Not just a single can but THOUSANDS for hundreds of kilometres throughout the entire park on both sides of the highway.
Instead of my usual trip looking at the beautiful mountain view, my eye caught shiny objects on the side of the road and it wasnt gold. It was garbage.
We couldnt get lost; we just followed the trail to Alberta.
We stopped at a rest stop and within a garbage-can distance I gathered four cans, three liquor bottles and a plastic container.
At that rest stop there were three people, camera in hand, enjoying the view of our park. Not one person joined in and picked up the garbage. They just watched and walked away.
If you stop and see garbage pick it up! Its our National Park; its everybodys, and we must respect it. Lets keep it clean.
How would you like it if we were to throw our garbage on your front lawn?
If you dont want your cans we have lots of organizations that would gladly accept them. We have drop-off centres and recycle bins throughout our valley. Use your cans or take them home.
Take pride in your National Park: the world is watching (tourists).
Also, a lot of these cans were beer cans so it goes to show that people are still drinking and driving. Its not just the animals you have to watch out for but the drivers too!
The moral of my story is to keep Canada clean. Reduce, Reuse and recycle!
Dean Timothy
Edgewater
