Lindsey Barlow recently wrote regarding highway litter (Our Readers’s Views, March 13). Yes, Vancouver is a “pig city.” My wife and I were Adopt-a-Highway volunteers for 10 years. Over the course of 10 years, we and fellow volunteers picked up an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 bags of litter on Highway 14. We discovered that there is no budget for continuous pickup at a level that is needed. Lindsey and others can “adopt” a section of highway.
About one-third to one-half of litter is bottles, cans and drink containers. Michigan’s 10 cents per bill results in a 94 percent return, so lobbying for a “bottle bill” could also help.
Another source of trash is the common practice of loading personal or construction trash in the back of an open pickup. When these loads are not covered and lashed down, the load is distributed at high speeds. More enforcement would help, and better parenting wouldn’t hurt.
A cleaner Vancouver would be better for all of us by improving property values and increasing tourism. To solve this we all need to step up, pitch in and do something about it.
