While the City of Vancouver has directed locals to properly dispose of waste materials, a collection of recent photographs shows that not everyone followed the rule over Halloween weekend.
Over the past few days, several locals took to Twitter to share images of garbage strewn across parks, sidewalks, and even right beside trash cans. A couple of people and groups went out to clean up the debris, but lament that there is a great deal of it to contend with this year.
For example, Kevin Regamey says he decided to head to Trout Lake to pick up litter from the fireworks, and "picked up some 40lbs of trash--mostly fireworks remanents."
Twitter account @ILiveinEastVan also shared some images of fireworks debris, noting that the person who left it there "Let birds, wildlife [and] pets near toxic chemicals."
They quip, "Because you know putting spent fireworks IN the garbage bin would be just too much to ask."
Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services are also reporting a staggering $450,000 in damage from Halloween.
Have a look at some of the videos and photos from around Metro Vancouver over the past few days.
Well at least the firework garbage ended up in a trash can? Though I’m not sure if they burnt one to a crisp, or that’s just ash from a bonfire. Either way, not great. 🙄. #Clintonpark pic.twitter.com/whyxtcaFle
— 🚲Joel🚲 (@macdaley360) November 2, 2020
Saw a post on r/vancouver showing how disgusting Trout Lake was after all the fireworks last night.
— Kevin Regamey (@regameyk) November 2, 2020
Zoe and I decided to deal with the problem, and picked up some 40lbs of trash - mostly fireworks remnants.
Please, revelers. Clean up your shit. pic.twitter.com/RxATdsUWPR
In times of covid it would have been awesome if you can at least bring your garbage the 50 meters to the garbage can, you can see it from here. Thank you next time. pic.twitter.com/jf2Cg19lgp
— Falko Luedtke (@FalkoInc) November 1, 2020
Because you know putting spent fireworks IN the garbage bin would be just too much to ask. Let birds, wildlife & pets near toxic chemicals. So much for Greenest city. pic.twitter.com/ePgtf9gBpU
— ILiveInEastVan (@ILiveInEastVan) November 1, 2020
So this is part the mess left on the now somewhat scorched pier in Gladstone Park. Who’s going to clean this up?? Guess my ever increasing taxes pay for this too @CityofVancouver pic.twitter.com/whF8I57PXb
— ILiveInEastVan (@ILiveInEastVan) November 1, 2020
Serious question. Who is responsible for maintaining the sidewalks along the church on Carnarvon St? Cigarette butts, leaves, trash. #newwestminster #newwest pic.twitter.com/R7mVWOgb7C
— Colby Spencer (@colbyspencer) November 2, 2020
Littering during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Locals have also been sharing multiple images of discarded personal protective equipment on social media and expressing their frustration with the PPE litterbugs.
In April, Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart called out the new kind of litterbug after posting photographs on Facebook of surgical gloves randomly strewn on a road and at an underground parking lot. He even asked, “Perhaps a $10,000 fine would be in order for discarding used masks/gloves?”
At the beginning of May, Vancouver City Councillor and UBCM Director Pete Fry shared a couple of images to his Twitter account that show garbage strewn across Strathcona Park. He wrote that it is the second time he's seen garbage dumped in the park and notes that it is a "full truck worth of domestic loose garbage."
