A Reddit post from a Vancouver, Canada, resident is bringing attention to the downside of the city’s effort to limit waste bins.
The post features a photo of a cigarette receptacle in one of Vancouver’s many green spaces — covered in trash. In the caption, the Redditor wrote, “Shout out to the city for taking away all the garbage cans in my area causing people to throw their trash on these cigarette thingies.”
An article by Global News explains that Vancouver has been consolidating trash cans, placing them in high-traffic areas, and adding recycling bins in their place. The city’s reasoning is that the system is more eco-friendly and allows for more sidewalk space. While recycling is great for the environment, the lack of waste bins is taking a different toll on the environment — it’s significantly adding to the litter problem.
This litter is unsightly for citizens, and it’s also dangerous for the local wildlife. Animals ingest the trash or get it caught around their bodies — both of which can be deadly.
Many Reddit commenters suggested that Vancouver citizens simply need to learn to take their trash home with them. While this might be true in some cases, it’s also important to note that Vancouver has high rates of homelessness. Citizens already facing this challenge may not be able to leave their area to find a proper waste bin.
There isn’t a clear-cut answer to the issue. It’s a great first step for the environment to make recycling more accessible, but it’s also a problem that the lack of trash cans increases the amount of litter.
Ultimately, this issue needs to be addressed by the local government. However, Redditors have a great point about applying a carry-in, carry-out policy for those who can. You can help keep your city looking beautiful by taking your trash home when it’s convenient and encouraging city officials to find better solutions.
A Redditor suggested exactly this in the comments, “Let’s transform the entire culture!” they wrote, speaking of the tendency to litter or use public garbage cans instead of taking your trash home. “In the meantime, we need garbage bins,” they added, noting that even if we do make a habit of carrying out our garbage, public trash cans will continue to be a necessity for citizens.
“City took away a resource meant to deal with trash and now there is trash not being dealt with. City’s fault,” another added.
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