Ashamed of Winnipeg's Litter Problem
This is completely anecdotal, but I feel like the littering in this city is a bit out of control. Especially the perimeter, route 90, Inkster, etc. Why doesn't the city impose stricter littering laws and use the cadets to enforce it? It would be more $ in their coffers. I am disheartened that Calgary can get 2500 volunteers for city cleanup. I'm rather disgusted at how much garbage you see around the city.
And before I open myself up to criticism, yes I have volunteered in the past for cleanup. |
Have you travelled much? Winnipeg is one of the cleanest cities I’ve been to, all over the world. This of course is except for when the snow melts in spring and it takes some time to get cleaned up. It’s been an exceptionally long, slow, cold melt this year - and very windy - so it’s delayed the cleanup process.
Also, just about every BIZ has volunteer cleanup days that generally get good turnout, and take pride winnipeg does work as well. If there’s one cleaning-related thing about here I’ve noticed, it’s that many business owners either don’t seem to care about the area in front of their shops, or just expect someone else to clean it 24/7. Never see anyone sweeping dirt out front downtown, where it’s common in other cities. |
Here's my beef:
Why is this bylaw not enforced?! http://clkapps.winnipeg.ca/dmis/docu.../1995.6555.pdf Excerpt: Quote:
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I don't know...I dream of the days when I was in Winnipeg when it comes to littering and pollution. Winnipeg has none.
Yeah, it's somewhat subjective but if there's one thing you'll notice when traveling the world, Canada in general is pristine and its cities, including Winnipeg, are sparkling and shiny by comparison to the rest of the world. There are other places that are clean, of course, but Canada is one of the least polluted places you'll ever see and that statement applies equally to our cities. |
Spring thaw always makes the litter problem look worse. But as others have mentioned Winnipeg is far from alone. It’s cleaner than many other cities I’ve been too. Another thing I notice whenever I go to Montreal is the sheer amount of grafetti everywhere. Winnipeg is much cleaner in terms of grafetti.
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I was in Vancouver recently and was shocked at the amount of litter in certain areas, esp. Gastown, along Granville Street and in parts of the East Side. Most of the other areas were very clean. It appears to me that the majority of the litter that you see around Winnipeg originates from two sources: a Canadian-based coffee chain and a fast food restaurant, both of which I will leave unnamed. Perhaps they could place some signage at their drive-thru exits reminding customers not to litter. Also, if residents picked up the litter in front of their homes and apartment buildings and ensured that any litter that has accidentally fallen out of the garbage and recycling bins in back lanes is picked up as well it would go a long ways to alleviate any litter problems. It really is not at all difficult to do that, and I am tired of people saying they don't have any time to go out and pick it up. Those who moan that they never have time to do anything are the same ones that have plenty of time to be checking their cel phones every 5 minutes and at most picking up the odd bit of litter might take just a few minutes per week. |
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The trouble is that by law offences generally only come with a fine. As far as I know, if someone didn't pay their by law ticket, there used to a warrant issued for their arrest. That doesn't happen anymore. So police are limited in what they can do |
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It’s interesting that you start a thread with the rather provocative title “ashamed of winnipeg’s litter problem” and your first statement is that your “feeling” is purely anecdotal. You’re the same person who had a chance conversation with a security guard that the whiteouts were rife with muggings when in fact the evidence has been to the contrary. And you seem to know a lot more about Calgary cleanups than you do about Winnipeg.
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Everywhere you drive, where you can see a road ditch, there is a good collection of trash. Up McGillivray, Perimeter highway, Bishop Grandin, parts of Pembina, by the airport, and especially around South Pointe there is an unacceptable amount of trash. I have actually been to third world countries this year and I have actually seen with my own freaking eyes what it means to live in a dirty city and Winnipeg does NOT by any means come close to achieving a level of cleanliness that we should be achieving based on our infrastructure and education. Every city, no matter what, has its blights but our litter problem is very wide-spread throughout the city which makes it hard to detect but it's like slowly boiling a frog to death; we won't notice it until it's very drastic. And being buried under snow for 6 months never helps either. In comparison to other cities, Winnipeg is a dirty city especially when you compare it internationally taking into account the infrastructure and education of the population. We don't have extreme poverty or crumbling infrastructure like Brazil or India, so what is our excuse here?! Sure I can throw a bone to the city by saying that this dry, dry, dry spring is highlighting all of the trash. But why do we need to wait for it to rain before we start cleaning up? If we are not going to properly invest in useful public transportation, if we are not going to invest in developing our city's/province's economy (in some way), and if we are going to continue to put "band-aids" on this city's problems instead of properly fixing them; then we should at least be living in a relatively clean city. |
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approaches your vehicle. |
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Society is becoming more and more cashless. Unless panhandlers have a debit/ credit machine, they will not be able to collect change in the near future.
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I always tell them to move along. We've had near fatal incidents where panhandlers have fallen off curbs or boulevards. Giving them money in this environment isn't helping their life and it's a safety issue for them. |
I participated in the downtown clean-up event this spring. There was very little trash to pick up. Like almost nothing. We had to go into private parking lots and such to find trash.
Maybe it was due to the whiteout parties. But we were nowhere near that. The streets had be swept yes. But even back lanes didn't have much trash in the area we were cleaning. It was actually quite a nice surprise. At home, there was a lot of trash blowing around before the streets were swept. Since then and I've raked the yard, there is almost nothing. We have a fenced yard which catches everything too. |
I once gave a homeless lady a beer at the confusion corner bus shelter. She and her husband were trying to sleep there late one Saturday night as I was waiting for the last bus. It was a molson dry. I don't drink beer anymore. She was drinking a king can and I thought she needed it more than I did. The most noble act I have have ever done.
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Maybe I take it for granted, but I remember being a kid and being taught by my parents and teachers that I shouldn't litter as if throwing things into a garbage bin was a new idea.
By contrast, general society's abhorrence to litter had believing this wasn't a pressing issue... atleast not compared to other large cities. Because the wind blows it all away :P |
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If there's something to be upset (or confused) about here, it's why all the SHED-style light posts that have garbage bins attached to one side, and were build for recycling on the other, don't have the recycling bin. It's not like we don't already have recycling bins all over the place. Would be better off having no garbage at all.
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