This year, for Earth Day, I joined the rest of my colleagues and the Airport’s tenants in their annual ritual of combing over the grounds and picking up the garbage that has been trapped in long grass, against fences or – as I found out – purposely placed in flowerbeds and raised planters.

Together with four other colleagues, we were assigned to de-garbage the public car park.   I’m curious as to what goes through people’s minds when they are getting rid of that half roll of paper towels, a bottle of cough medicine, or a losing Tim Horton’s ‘roll up the rim to win’ paper cup.  What do they think is going to happen to it?  Do they think no one will notice or that it will magically disappear?

Now, granted, it does happen and some things get away – caught by a gust of wind or accidently dropping out of an open car door; I’m not such an eco-freak that I expect the place to be spotless.  But given that there are garbage cans around, particularly in the parking lot, why don’t people make that little extra effort to properly dispose of rubbish?  And why, oh why, would someone, if they are throwing away a nearly full cup of coffee in a planter box, why would they not pour it out first??  Let’s just say the ‘crinkly face’ was assumed and the best description of the contents was ‘chunky’.  ‘Nuff said.

The day was a great success and resulted in over 35 bag of garbage picked up – I’m not sure any of us will walk by that empty can or discarded cup again without picking it up and hopefully think at least twice before we ourselves casually throw something away on the ground. 

Karen Medweth
Director, Marketing