Sometimes I love the YYZ — we’ve got a green bin composting program, Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market, and tons of organic, local food. Our cycling culture is also pretty strong, considering we’ve got snow for at least three months a year. And I especially get all warm and fuzzy when I see stuff like this:
Look how cute and happy our police look riding around on their bicycles! (here’s the Flickr link to it)
But then, I’m also frequently reminded that I don’t live in a perfectly green city. My friend Meghan snapped this photo the other day:
It was taken in what used to be a grassy park by the lake — now, it’s been turned into a makeshift parking lot for people in the suburbs to leave their cars while they hang out at The Ex, eating myriad forms of high-fructose corn syrup wrapped in non-biodegradable packaging. Then, when they’ve finished winning useless stuffed toys and riding sketchy rollercoasters, they go and toss all their junk in the overflowing trash cans. Sickatating!
September 4, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Not only are they using the grassy area as a parking lot… but also a trailer park. There were at least a dozen trailer homes parked there. Ew. Why on earth would any want to LIVE at the ex?
September 5, 2007 at 12:31 am
Ick… but at least we’ve got bins in Toronto. You can walk miles around London without coming across a single one. After walking a mile without seeing a single bin, I finally ducked into a Starbucks just to throw away a cup. It’s pretty normal here for people to just pitch stuff wherever. Ugh.
September 5, 2007 at 6:58 am
Hey, don’t knock The Ex. If there’s one thing I miss most about Canada, it’s a big bag of Tiny Tom Donuts followed by a ride on the Dopple Looping.
September 5, 2007 at 8:25 am
Sutha you’re right. I saw some kids throwing their takeaway wrappers on the floor in London last week and it dawned on me that apart from outside McDonalds itself they’re aren’t any bins on their route from there to school - and it’s at least half a mile. While they could still carry the wrappers to a bin at school, it’s easy to see how they’ve grown up with the belief that’s it’s easier just to throw the rubbish on the floor. They are street cleaners up and down that (very long) road twice a day and it’s still a mess - a few bins might be handy.
September 5, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Adam, yup… and just look at the over-ground trains that go in and out of london… every time they begin the journey there’s always someone that comes through and cleans up all the papers, wrappers, cups, etc. It’s actually quite miserable.
Was talking to an American friend of mine also here in London… for us it’s really strange to litter, but it seems generally accepted in the UK. Pretty unfortunate.