Litter is making Thunder Bay look like a massive trash dump
THUNDER BAY – Across our city, often buried in the snow is a mountain of litter. Go for a short walk along any major street and you see the mess left by people who simply don’t seem to care. Today in a short walk along one of our busy streets there was a tossed coffee cup every twenty steps. It was sad to see our city used as a trash container.
Come spring, and the mess is always massive. It makes our beautiful city look terrible.
There is a massive number of single-use coffee cups used every year. Globally, according to GreenMatch, “16 billion paper cups are used for coffee every single year, which leads to 6.5 million trees cut down, 4 billion gallons of water going to waste, and enough energy to power 54,000 homes for a year also goes to waste”.
Sometimes it seems like most of those single-use cups are right here in Thunder Bay. That, of course, isn’t true, but it sure looks like it at times.
There is a simple solution. Re-usable Coffee Cups.
In many communities looking at the environmental impact and cost, civic leaders are looking for solutions.
In British Columbia, in the capital of Victoria, the city as a part of its four-year strategic plan are looking to ban single-use coffee cups and single-use take-out containers. Victoria has already banned plastic shopping bags.
In Thunder Bay, every spring and now through the efforts of Stand up 4 Cleanup, there are major efforts to keep our city looking clean and green.
Perhaps one of the solutions to the mess would be finding a way not to make it at all.
That old adage of an ounce of prevention saves a pound of cure comes to mind.
The city council should be directing Administration to examine ways to ban plastic bags and single-use coffee cups in our city. Thunder Bay could sure use the reduction in waste.
Clean – Green and Beautiful – Thunder Bay!
Facta non-Verba – Deeds not words.
That, of course, is just my opinion. Your mileage may vary.
James Murray
Letter to the Editor
THUNDER BAY – NetNewsLedger received this Letter to the Editor in response to our Editorial: 16 Billion Single Use Coffee Cups a Year!
