Practical ways to reduce litter in our parks, streets, and sensitive natural areas

This winter, I have done more walking along streets and trails in Langley City than any previous winter. It has been wet and windy this season. The combination of wind, rain, and increased walking throughout the City has highlighted some of the litter challenges in our natural areas.

Litter in a protected area. Select image to enlarge.

There are several ways in which litter makes its way into our natural and environmentally sensitive areas. These areas include the Nicomekl River, its tributaries, and surrounding protected areas.

The first is when people throw garbage onto the street or leave trash in a park or protected area. Some of that litter will get into the storm drains in our streets, which empty to the Nicomekl River and other local creeks. The wind will also take up some litter to get caught in plants, trees, or watercourses.

Fast food litter on a Langley City street. Select image to enlarge.

If you are reading this post, you are likely not intentionally littering, but there are still ways that you can help out.

Langley City has a Point of Pride program for adopting a section of street, park, or trail. The City will provide bags, tongs, and gloves. To show gratitude, the City will put a marker on the area adopted to recognize you or your groups. You can visit Langley City’s website to learn more about the program.

Another source of litter is from overflowing street garbage cans. The City has been increasing the capacity at locations where street garbage cans get full regularly. If you have garbage you want to throw out and notice that the street garbage can is full, please hold on to it; otherwise, it might just turn into litter.

The other source of litter is from private garbage bins that are insecure. Wind, raccoons, and crows will convert this garbage to litter in short order. Please make sure that your garbage bins close securely and are not prone to tipping over.

While we will never get rid of all litter, there are practical ways to help reduce the amount of trash in Langley City.