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Opinion: That’s right, just keep piling trash on top of this Burnaby can

I was driving around northeast Burnaby the other day and was reminded of one of my pet peeves in regards to human behaviour.
burnaby dumping garbage can trash
Dumping trash AROUND a City of Burnaby garbage can is still dumping. Just stop. Chris Campbell photo

I was driving around northeast Burnaby the other day and was reminded of one of my pet peeves in regards to human behaviour.

How many times have you gone to a city park or beach or trail and seen a garbage can with trash piled on top of it or all around it?

It feels like this happens a lot and I spotted one of these incidents near Cameron Recreation Centre.

As you can see from the photo, people have been piling trash on top of this can and on the ground next to it.

Sometimes this happens because the can is full and sometimes this happens because people are too lazy or frightened of germs to open the lid (don’t laugh, I know people who do this).

If the can is too full to put your garbage into, take it with you and find another place to get rid of it. Don’t just dump it on the ground.

Sure, eventually city staff will come along and clean it up, but, in the meantime, you’ve left a big mess for people to look at and for birds and racoons to pick through – meaning the trash gets spread all over the neighbourhood.

It’s not about it eventually being cleaned up – it’s about keeping our communities looking clean and not like some downtown Vancouver back alley.

Let’s show a little pride in our community.

For the record, I checked the can in question and it was only about half full so, yeah, people were just too lazy to properly dispose of their trash.

Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.