It doesn’t matter how much money one makes or how much garbage one produces in their lifetime. We leave our mess behind for the next generation. We take nothing with us under the sod whether we could help it or not.
Here is a picture of 50-year-old garbage material in a personal landfill site behind my shed. Years ago, in many rural parts of Newfoundland, people had a garbage dump behind their shed, on a beach or in the woods. There was no garbage pick up, just dump where you could.
The problem with much of this 20 and 21st century garbage is it doesn’t even break down and recycle back into nature. It stays in our back yards and wilderness areas for generations, like this garbage in my back yard.
Indiscriminate dumping is dangerous and it’s time for governments to protect our land and sea from this carnage. As you can see with the garbage I picked up in my back yard, the plastic Javex container and much of the other 20th century garbage didn’t break down at all after 50 years. It will possibly be there for hundreds of years.
Folks years ago didn’t have the recycling options we have now. Most people like the previous land owners where I now live never had the resources we have now. So out of respect for future generations let's recycle and make better product choices that are bio degradable and leave our Earth in better shape for future generations. Our wilderness areas and children depend on it.
A picture is worth a thousand words as you can see. There is no excuse for indiscriminate dumping now and in the future. Like I said in my previous environmental letters, “Easy access to wilderness really don’t work!”
The spring on Tilton Barrens is a perfect example of easy access abused. Garbage everywhere.
Tony O’Leary
Western Bay, N.L.
