East Van Garbage Watch 2013: Commercial Drive
East Vancouver smells like shit.
Between West Coast Reduction's rendering plant on North Commercial, the vomit and urine streaking the sidewalks and alleyways after special events, and the epic piles of garbage, it's hard to argue that the east side of town smells like anything other than rancid death.
To wit, I present the 2013 East Van Garbage Watch (patent pending): a semi-regular series of photos of disgustingness.
Exhibit B: Commercial Drive on a Monday evening. I wandered the stretch between Broadway and Venables in search of garbage.
My findings were… gross.
See the gallery: East Van Garbage Hunt.
The problem seems to be two-fold: 1) there are not enough trash recepticles in the area and 2) people don't seem to know how to use the garbage cans that are available.
Well, and some assholes dump a lot of stuff in the streets instead of hauling it to the dump. (Seriously, who leaves a mini fridge outside a SkyTrain station?)
There is no easy solution to this incredibly disgusting situation. But I sure as shit would like the City of Vancouver to recognize that this is a problem that ought to be addressed.
Previously on East Van Garbage Watch: Commercial SkyTrain station's hardest working garbage can.
Have an East Van garbage photo you want to share? Tweet it to me at @charenton_ with the photo's location, date it was taken, and any other observations you may have.
Comments
5 Comments
greenie
Jul 23, 2013 at 12:49pm
I'm assuming you already called 3-1-1? Also, more blame on those littering, please.
Miranda Nelson
Jul 23, 2013 at 1:00pm
I called 311 this morning to complain after the garbage at my house was not picked up. They said I had to call back after 3 p.m. I'll be informing them about all of this.
Mark
Jul 23, 2013 at 1:27pm
I was always brought up not to drop litter, so I find it really hard to understand how people can just drop stuff anywhere. If people aren't being taught to look after where they live, then perhaps that is the problem.
On a similar note, I wish people would cover their mouths/noses whilst sneezing and coughing - barely a day passes where I don't see someone coughing and sneezing without covering when walking down a busy side-walk, or even sitting on a crowded bus or sky-train. It's little wonder that so many people seem to be ill all the time.
Earth Angel
Jul 23, 2013 at 1:42pm
Thank you, Thank you,
Keep up the Good Work!!
DavidH
Jul 23, 2013 at 5:08pm
Surrey "Recycling Watch" - I live in a strata complex with "collective recycling bins". I am glad that guns are difficult to buy around here because:
- The "Mixed Paper" bin, which carries the words "No Pizza Boxes", is always full of pizza boxes. There is even a graphic of a pizza box with a red circle around it and a red line through the circle. Perhaps in other lands, this symbol means "Please Deposit Pizza Boxes".
- The "Mixed Containers" box, which carries the words "Please Crush Large Plastic Containers", is always full of large, uncrushed, 4-litre milk containers. It takes approximately 10 such containers to fill the bin, which is roughly the daily consumption of an average family in this complex.
- Yesterday, the "Newsprint" box contained a broom handle, many glass jars ... and a pizza box. To be fair, the pizza box did have some "print" on it. Not very news-oriented though.
- When any recycling bin is full, items are immediately dropped on the ground beside the bins. Apparently, it is too difficult (or perhaps too complicated) to return home with the same trash that you left home with just moments before.
I will report further. It's better than sitting in my kitchen window with a sniper rifle, waiting for a pizza box depositor.