A Litter bit of Tim's to call our own
A Litter bit of Tim's to call our own
May
4th 2006 I went out for a 60 minute walk - What did I see?
Tim Trash
And that is only a small part of it.
I do not know the answer but I do feel that a company so visibly
part of the problem would likely benefit if they were visibly part of a
solution. Perhaps they should rrrroll up their
sleeves and get to work on a solution.
Capital punishment for offenders might
look attractive as a deterrent but I oppose it on principle for any offence.
Deposits might help. We see very few beverage
containers in the litter now - probably not because our friends and neighbors throw
less away
but because someone else can see the profit in picking them up. It
would be nice as well if these disposable one use containers
were recyclable & or compostable.
Well that opened the gate. I have received a few comments about this page. Most agree there is a litter problem and that Tim Hortons cups are often what we see most. Most people also see Tim's customers as the real villains.
Some comments with full names withheld to protect the innocent - and me.
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I am very annoyed with the amount of litter people discard
everywhere but where they should. Where they should is of coarse - Reduce -
Reuse - & Recycle - & when that is not possible - suitable waste handling
programs -- Put it in the garbage.
This week I went out for a short walk & very quickly I could see that by far one
of the most visible components of litter is Tim Horton's cups. After seeing
dozens of discarded cups I started taking pictures of some of them. Sometimes
they are the only litter. More often they are part of a larger problem.
Eliminating Tim Trash may do little by itself to curb a widespread disrespect of
our urban environment but the ideas and effort that would reduce coffee cups as
litter would probably have a wider impact. Perhaps it is time Tim Horton's got
involved in getting their cups off the street. It goes without saying that you
and I are already doing our part. Right? G. A.
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No carry away beverage container that is on the market today can be
recycled for hot beverages. ( in N B ) Each has either wax or a
plastic liner somewhere in the makeup.
Every material must be separated to be recycled. The answer may be to promote
the use and maybe discount those who show up and use their own travel mug. The
Trash Talker C. D.
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Styrofoam - I thought that it was possible to put used styrofoam in to non food
use secondary applications - perhaps volume or demand do not make that
practical.I expect - again I do not know - that coffee cups - and milk cartons -
shredded - reduced to small enough pieces - would decompose in a compost program
-- I am sure they would become in time a non distinct part of the soil - I have
seen that happen - I do not know though what the impact of all the plastic would
be if high volumes of used containers ended up in the compost heap. Personal
reusable is a part answer - there has to be more --- G. A.
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Styrofoam is not recyclable in NB. It belongs in the garbage. It's not feasible to recycle it - has to go a long ways and then you get paid by the weight, so it wouldn't even cover the gas money - let alone the truck, driver, etc. Milk cartons have wax on them so they will not decompose. In order to recycle them, they have to go far away to a plant that separates the materials and the recycles it. Also the cardboard is specially treated so that light doesn't pass through it, so it's not just regular cardboard material. That's why we ask people to buy their milk in plastic containers. Reusable like in Europe needs to come to Canada C. D.
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Well...here on the West
Coast, we have Starbucks Seattle's Best, Second Cup, and all kinds of coffee
shops and their trash.
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Is it just me or are we
taking the blame off the individuals and putting it on the "big evil
corporations"? It's the customers buying the drinks and tossing them that
are to blame not the store selling the stuff. Unless I'm mistaken, all the
Tim Hortons stores EVERYWHERE provide garbage cans in the parking lots, as
do McDonalds, Burger King...and so forth.
Lets face it PEOPLE ARE
PIGS and don't give a shit about anyone else or about the environment. What
should Tim Hortons do??? Maybe they should hire a few thousand employees to
walk all over the city to pick up the coffee cups. Sure they could put a
deposit on them but get serious...they're not like plastic or glass bottles
that are easy to keep, they're not made to last and would rip before being
returned. Once they implemented the deposit on cups then the problem would
become the bags or papers that wrap the doughnuts and bagels, the candy bar
wrappers from the Mac's Milk at the corner, the paper bags kids take their
lunches to school in, the newspapers (especially the free ones) that are
just dropped when the reading is done...I could go on and on...the fact is
that ANYTHING that is consumed in public is most likely going to end up as
litter.
When I was small my father used to walk us out to Dairy Queen (it was about 8 - 10 blocks) and we would each take a plastic bag with us. We would all fill our bags with garbage from the side of road on the way (which was plenty 'cause there was a McDonalds between home and Dairy Queen) and then he'd buy us a cone as a reward. Maybe we didn't make much of a difference to the community picking up 4 grocery bags of garbage once a week but to this day I can't litter...not even a candy wrapper. I've already started teaching my kids that littering is bad and they pick up garbage and put it in the trash can whenever we go to the park. Maybe rather than pointing fingers it would be better to just pick up that piece of trash and throw it away properly....the solution is in raising generations that understand the importance of respecting the environment. K. M.
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I used to live in St.
Martins (by the sea), New Brunswick, and every time I'd go for a walk on the
beaches there with my son and friend, Gerald ("Hug"), we'd take a bag each,
and fill it with garbage that washed up on shore or was left behind. I HATE
the free papers here in
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I think you are
missing the point.
Nobody is
blaming Timmies. This is just one of many ways that we as human beings tend to
destroy our planet, and maybe it is a good idea to help others notice it .
The idea of a deposit fee is not so the cups can be used again, or to penalize
Timmies, it’s just to see if people will return them instead of littering.
That’s all. It is one way that
Oh, as for the
bringing a garbage bag when hiking or walking, I think that is BRILLIANT! Bruce,
I’m sure you’ve been to
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The beaches have improved - Great - I even think the Lake -
River - & Bay water may be cleaner- I hope that is right.
Fix the windows and then the doors look bad - guess we have to be constantly
renovating - either that or let the house fall down ---G. A.
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Cool...Thanks for the Tim
Bit.....Did you pick up the cups Gord? W. R.
- Reply - no
I'd still be out there G. A. -
- but I do pick them up all the time in my own neighbourhood -
IMBY* _ G.A.
*(In My Back Yard)
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I know Tim H are good guys and that the problem is a symptom of their success - nevertheless I can't help but think that it is Tim's best interest to find a way to reduce the problem --- Travel mugs help - but usage is low. Getting the province to add drink cups to the beverage deposit list would I expect do as much good for drink cups as it has for beverage containers. Eliminate beverage containers and drink cups and still the rest remains -- maybe public flogging would help --- And there are obviously more important problems that need our attention - no need for a list G. A.
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It is a very
large part of the trash that I see lying around and would love to see everyone (Timmies
AND the consumer) do something about it. I see no reason what so ever that
people should litter.
The local high school kids have garbage cans distributed all over their school property, yet throw garbage on the grass, the road and the sidewalk. I think this is a more subtle F-U to the establishment and rules in general, but really conveys no point. Can we set up a “Flog the litterbugs day” or something like that to deter them? I WISH!
Oh hey, you will
be happy to hear that we now have a green box program ( in Ontario ) in effect
just like you!!! We now have a small green box in the kitchen that all
compost-able waste goes in to, and a large one in the garage that goes to the
curb. This should help eliminate a lot more trash! Weeeee S. A.
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Deposit is
likely the only solution. H.T.
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I got
to thinking about the e-mails concerning Tim's; and, on the way home from
Safeway yesterday, I picked up over half a shopping bag of garbage. 99% was
Tim's/Macdonald's.
I got to thinking about the D.O.A. slogan on one of my hoodies: "TALK-ACTION=0" and figured, "I don't have to be on a beach to pick up garbage" even though the City Of New Westminster has VERY WELL PAID employees to pick up litter; that is no reason to ignore it. So I thought, "I'll be part of the solution". I'm going to do it most every day, too. B. M
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Can't help but
think that a beginning is the only way to start. Wouldn't be surprised to see
results exceed the input effort - from leading by example and seeing the action
imitated. A clean environment is less likely to attract litter than a neglected
area. Many of the bad guys are less likely to litter in a clean place - and many
of the good guys will only hesitate slightly to add to the existing mess.
G A
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This is typical. I have a problem I don't want to deal with. In this case, trash. I throw it out the car window and it is no longer my problem. Gone. I no longer have to deal with it. However, it becomes someone else's problem.
People need to be more
considerate and not so ignorant. It is not Tim's responsibility. They are
are providing a service that is in great demand. See also the number of empty
water bottles scattered across the country. That is the culture we now live
in. As someone wise once said, "Give me convenience or give me death" :-)
If Tim's decides to do
something about it (I thought they have something on the cups about not
littering but maybe that's someone else), then Bravo. But that won't impact
the pigs who throw their garbage into the environment because they are too
lazy and inconsiderate to take on the burden of carrying a coffee cup from
their car into the garbage in their home. J. A.
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Seeing the group of messages
gave me another idea...
One big problem with travel mugs (for me anyways) is that it gets left in the
car....I go to get another coffee and the mug is sitting there on the floor of
my van dirty....how about if coffee shops adopted the Knob Hill Farms idea.
You give a $5 deposit for a travel mug, when you go get another coffee you
give it back, they put it in the dishwasher and give you a clean one for your
coffee. Nobody would throw out a travel mug, especially if they could get
their fairly large deposit back, nobody would mind using the travel mugs
because they wouldn't have to wash them and if you're going out and don't want
to carry a mug everywhere you go there's always a Tim Hortons close by where
you could simply return it and get your deposit back.
I still think the long term solution is bringing the idea of keeping the
environment clean and not littering into the school system in a much bigger
way than it is now because if you bring up a whole generation of people that
won't litter you no longer have to worry about cleaning it up after....there
won't be the mess but finding ways to get the present generation of adults to
clean up their act wouldn't hurt as well.
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In grade 8, we were all taught the evils (both health and moral) of drinking,
smoking, and drugs yet we all do some, if not all, of these anyway. You have to
shame people into not littering. Make it socially unacceptable on a large
scale. If a friend of yours threw an empty coffee cup to the curb, would you
shun that person or even say anything? If it was a friend, you might say
something or make a joke about it (Don’t be a litter bug, you jerk, ha-ha) but
one certainly wouldn’t say anything to a stranger. People will do it as long as
they can get away with it consequence free. Education may help a younger
generation understand the impact, but it won’t necessarily stop them. There is
no tangible punishment. J. A.
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If you have pictures you would like to see included e-mail them
to me at
<<<<<
timtrash@gordonanderson.ca >>>>>
If you can - make them 72 dpi and no more than 500 pixels high & 800 pixels
wide.
Keep it legal.
Fundy Region Solid Waste Commission
Copyright
2006 by J. Gordon Anderson. All rights reserved.
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