ROGER PIKE
Advertiser

There are fairies living in Grand Falls-Windsor. You know sort of like Tinker Bell with long wings, magic wanes and the like. These fairies do amazing things. Let me give you a few examples.

These fairies take the leaves out of garbage bags at the compost pit. They don't mind that mortal humans in this town can't read. Heck, they have nothing better to do. They even take the household garbage that's dumped at the compost site and transform it into topsoil and they don't complain. These fairies even pick up those retread tires that blow off tractor-trailers on our highways.

The Tinker Bell fairies also pick up the diapers left along the Trans Canada Highway near Red Cliff and guess what? They clean up the dog dung along the Corduroy Brook trail. No need to take the plastic bags when you walk your dog here. Just let him/her poop on the trail and the fairies will be along in minutes unless of course someone steps in it. Then they get upset and disappear into the woods leaving you to clean the mess off your shoes before you go home. Fairies I'm told are very moody.

These fairies may not be unique to the province but they have set up shop in this neck of the woods in a big way. Take Thunder Brook (Leech Brook) as an example. Who in the heck cleans up the site after the summer is over? Someone said the town has taken on this responsibility but I don't believe it.

Am I the only one who believes in fairies? Don't think so. Check out all the garbage dumped along many of the wood access roads now owned by the province. Obviously, there are those who actually think and believe that fairies come along and clean this all up after they dump it. You notice most of the garbage when berry picking. I actually stayed late one evening hoping to find a couple of these fairies. If properly trained they may be helpful in helping me clear snow this winter.

Alas, I was not successful.

Try driving on any small access road in central Newfoundland. You will find household appliances, household garbage, and chicken boxes not to mention used condoms. And what's an illegal dump site without coffee cups from you know where. This all begs the question.

Who do you think cleans this entire mess up?

Despite environment programs designed to educate everyone the whole concept of what to do with our waste appears to be lost on a good cross section of the public. Even though the town has initiated a Saturday garbage drop off at the local depot, many still prefer to burn gas and dump their waste on many of the back roads across the river. I can only assume they would prefer the fairies clean it all up rather than having to pay town staff overtime to do the job.

Seriously, if you have waste and you don't know what to do with it, ask someone, just don't throw it across the river. Be responsible.

The time has come for the provincial government as well as town councils in the region to initiate a public awareness campaign and to re-advertise what services are available not to mention fines that are imposed on those caught dumping their garbage in unauthorized areas. One might actually start with a road signage program initiated by the Department of the Environment. This can also be expanded into a public awareness campaign.

Finally, we may also want to give our municipal police officers more teeth to catch those responsible. Surely goodness we as a society have progressed to the point where dumping waste is seen as a crime rather than a right of passage.

On a positive note, I did see several scout troops picking up garbage in the Sanger Park area last month leading me to believe that not all is lost.

These Beaver and Scout troops are to be commended for their environment awareness and for a job well done. The Beavers were enthusiastic about the whole exercise, which speaks volumes for the leaders.

It's my perspective the time has now come to crack down on this garbage problem immediately. Let's start the planning for a massive public awareness campaign during the winter that can be launched with gusto this spring. It's now getting to the point where simply going for a walk can turn your stomach.

Where these Tinker Bell fairies are hiding I'll never know. Maybe they are hiding in the abandoned buildings that seem to be sprouting up throughout the town.

In the meantime, if you can think of more than a dozen or so buildings that have been abandoned and boarded up in Grand Falls-Windsor (my pet peeve) please let me know. It took me a couple of days to find a dozen. Maybe someone can do better.

When you are finished maybe you can help me find those Tinker Bell fairies. You know, the ones who clean up everyone's mess.

Roger Pike writes from Grand Falls-Windsor. He can be contacted at roger.pike@nf.sympatico.ca.