To the editor,
I see that June 4 to June 11 is Environment Week. What a great opportunity to bring up a dirty little problem that this city has. I have lived in several Canadian cities and can say with some objectivity that Halifax has more litter than most. The HRM's website boasts some rather sunny proclamations about Haligonians' perception of their city and its cleanliness. Truth is, it's a long way from clean. There is a real problem with litter here, and it begins with people's attitudes. Too many people just don't care what happens to their Tim Hortons cup or their cigarette butt after they toss them out of the car window. Hopefully, a well-implemented awareness campaign centered around Environment Week can begin to make some differences here.
However, while littering may begin with people's attitudes, the HRM is not helping much. Last week I ate an apple while walking down Barrington Street. I had to walk for almost 15 minutes before I found a garbage can to dispose of the core. When I finally found one, it was overflowing. Annoyed doesn't begin to explain how I feel about this. Why should I care about litter if the city I live in apparently doesn't? Where are the garbage cans in this town? To me, this shows that this city has a large gap between talking the environmental talk and walking the walk.
By Steve
