It’s good to hear from the Comox-Strathcona Waste Management (CSWM) staff that progress is being made on the illegal dumping of trash in the region.
Now, remember, it says “making progress” not “eliminating the problem.” When you go out in the backroads of the district, you will still see a lot of illegally-dumped trash. A lot of it.
It’s a big problem and you’ll be hard pressed to find a person who doesn’t think it’s disgusting behaviour. Yet, it continues to happen.
A CSWM staff report says that reporting of dumping incidents is up and the amount of trash is down. This is good. People are taking it upon themselves to report the trash they see and CSWM staff say the amount out there is down. In the Campbell River area in particular, there was an 83 per cent increase in the reporting of illegal dumping. Well done folks.
Because it’s going to up to individuals to take responsibility for the trash they see and if it’s reported, there’s a chance that perpetrators will be caught. At the very least, it will get cleaned up.
But more importantly, the ethic that dumping is not socially acceptable will spread and perhaps fewer people will do it.