All About Crap

Sometimes I wonder about me. I worry about things that don't seem to disturb anyone else. Soon it will be time for concerned residents with plastic bags and rubber gloves and children to collect the litter that appears in all its ugliness after the winter snow melts.

Everyone will go about the task with great energy and enthusiasm. When the task is finished, they will join the Mayor in the park for a barbecue and celebrate a job well done.

Last year, I tentatively suggested that having children participate in this event might not be such a great idea. The Mayor said, “Their parents bring them.”

I'm pretty sure at that point, he thought I was a total dingbat.

I had phoned the Public Health Department. Nobody up there was much concerned either.

Last year, I read headlines about a swan in the U.K. dead from bird flu. I thought about the geese that appear in spring on the salamander pond on Henderson Drive and the mosquitos said to be carriers of the Asian Flu virus. Much litter gathering happens in that vicinity.

This year, there are headlines about C. Difficile appearing in the local hospital. Soap and water is the antidote. Last year, Councillors Morris and Gaertner referred council to the disgusting stuff they encountered at the back of the War Memorial Garden when they were picking up litter.

In the Town of Aurora's 2006/2007 Recycling and Waste Calendar and Information Guide - on the April Page, it notes that litter is not just unsightly and expensive to clean up, it is UNHEALTHY. Why are we encouraging children to pick it up?

Cigarette butts are toxic. Wrappers from fast food and coffee cups tossed out of car windows and probably turned over by wild-life, Can that be harmless?

We hear a lot these days about the dangers of herbicides and pesticides. Yet listed in our calendar as household hazardous wastes requiring separate disposal are aerosols, bathroom cleaners, drain cleaners, spot removers, toilet cleaners, oven cleaners, household bleach and FLEA COLLARS, for goodness’ sake! How many children are cuddling pets wearing flea collars? Is there a toxic warning on flea collar packaging? Or do young parents just assume that because they are for sale, they must be safe?

I was young once myself and mindless. Maybe I am paranoid now but I don't think so. I think we are all perfectly capable of being completely stupid and doing it collectively. As long as nobody raises the alarm does that mean there is no crisis?

Adults can do what they think is alright. But I don't think we should be encouraging children to pick up litter.

Years ago, when dog droppings in parks and playgrounds was a serious problem and we couldn't get owners to understand how disgusting it was to the rest of us, I hit on the solution. I nagged.

Every time I saw something in the paper about a disease being traced to the presence of an animal in the house, I read the Riot Act. Once I saw a news report connecting blindness to dog feces. I ranted and raved in Council meetings about irresponsible owners who thought it was acceptable for their animals to relieve themselves anywhere and everywhere and to walk away and leave the disgusting mess behind.

We passed the ‘Stoop and Scoop Bylaw’. John West used to call it Poop and Scoop - I had to point out to him regularly that was not the purpose of the bylaw.

Eventually the nagging campaign was effective. Nowadays people walking their pets carry plastic bags conspicuously so that everyone will know they are responsible pet owners. But first somebody had to yell at them repeatedly, in no uncertain terms, that their dogs' toilet habits were just not acceptable.

Maybe it is time for similar extraordinary measures to deal with the problem of litter. And maybe it's time for women to give a thought to how much toxic stuff they are handling in their homes. Maybe they shouldn't worry so much about how clean things are and think about healthy habits instead.