WHAT IT ALL MEANS - ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE - AND THE PLACES IN NATURE WE HOLD DEAREST

I WATCHED A GENTLEMAN AND HIS SON DUMPING GARBAGE IN THIS BEAUTIFUL PLACE. WHEN I CONFRONTED HIM, HIS RESPONSE, LIKE ALL THE OTHERS I'VE CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF ILLEGAL DUMPING, RESPONDED, "I DIDN'T KNOW I COULDN'T!" I ASKED IF HE OWNED THE PROPERTY. HE DIDN'T. I ASKED IF HE KNEW HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE A PLASTIC OIL CONTAINER TO DISINTEGRATE INTO THE SOIL. "I DON'T KNOW" HE SAID. I GET THAT A LOT AROUND HERE.

I STOPPED A LOCAL HANDYMAN, DOING THE SAME THING ONE DAY, AFTER WATCHING HIM MAKE REPEATED RUNS INTO THE WOODS, TO DUMP YARD DEBRIS. "THE OWNER SAID I COULD," HE DEFENDED, OF HIS ACTION. I SAID, "DOES THE MAN YOU ARE WORKING FOR OWN THE WOODLAND HERE?" I RESPONDED. "I DON'T KNOW," HE SNARLED. I SAID, "WELL, IF YOU AREN'T SURE ABOUT IT, WHY DON'T YOU ASK SOMEONE, WHETHER IT IS OKAY TO DUMP REFUSE IN THE FOREST?" "MAYBE I WILL," HE ANSWERED. "IN THE MEANTIME," I SAID, "UNTIL YOU FIND OUT IF HE OWNS IT OR NOT, WHY DON'T YOU GO BACK INTO THE WOODS, AND SCOOP UP ALL THE CRAP YOU'VE JUST DUMPED….JUST IN CASE HE DOESN'T OWN IT." I SUPPOSE THIS IS WHEN HE TWIGGED TO THE IDEA, I KNEW MORE ABOUT THIS PROPERTY, "THE BOG," THAN HE DID. SO HE DID MAKE A MINOR CLEAN-UP, AND I MADE A MINOR CALL TO THE BYLAW OFFICE TO REPORT HIM. FEIGNING IGNORANCE IS SOMETHING SPECIAL THESE DAYS, IT REALLY IS, AND THERE ARE ABOUT A DOZEN FOLKS, SOME FROM OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS, CONTINUING TO DUMP WHAT THEY DON'T WANT IN THIS SMALL BUT UNIQUE LITTLE BOGLAND, TUCKED NEATLY INTO THE URBAN ENVIRONS OF GRAVENHURST.

AS I HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT FREQUENTLY IN THESE BLOGS, AND OTHERS, I HAVE A VERY LOW THRESHOLD WHEN IT COMES TO FOLKS CONTAMINATING THIS BEAUTIFUL REGION, WITH A WIDE ARRAY OF GARBAGE AND ALL SORTS OF TOXIC WASTE. I WAS CONVINCED ONE DAY, THAT SOMEONE ON OUR STREET HAD BEEN DUMPING LEFTOVER PAINT INTO THE BOG. I COULDN'T PROVE IT, BUT I WATCHED THE CHAP IN QUESTION, EVERY TIME HE ENTERED THE FOREST PATH, FOR THE SLIGHTEST EVIDENCE HE HAD SOMETHING TO DRAIN INTO THE WATERWAY. SUZANNE WORRIES ABOUT ME CATCHING SOMEONE LIKE THAT, AND GETTING INTO SOME SORT OF SCRAPE. THIS WOULDN'T HAPPEN, BECAUSE EVERY PERSON I'VE CONFRONTED SO FAR, WAS IN ENOUGH CRAP FOR ILLEGAL DUMPING, AND GETTING CAUGHT, THAT THE LAST THING THEY'D WANT, IS AN ASSAULT CHARGE HEAPED ON.

IT'S ONE THING TO FIND CHIP BAGS AND POP CANS LITTERING THE PATHWAY, AND ROADSIDE, BUT QUITE ANOTHER TO FIND A LOAD OF OLD SHINGLES DUMPED INTO A POOL OF WATER NEAR A STORM SEWER OUTLET. I'VE SEEN SOME STRANGE OCCURRENCES HERE, AND EVERY WEEK I FIND SOMETHING TOSSED THAT SHOULD HAVE GONE TO THE DUMPSITE.

As for environmental concerns these days, I've never been more anxious and worried about the governance of my country. I have always been a proud Canadian, and that didn't hinge on whether or not I supported the government in office. The way we have become known to the rest of the world, frankly, makes me feel let down by the people who should be representing us,……leading us, and protecting our integrity in all the international areas we expect as its citizens. I'm seeing a lot of parallels these days, between the government of the day, and the folks who think it's okay to dump crap into the wetlands…..because it's the cheapest, easiest thing to do. They rationalize as well, that they didn't know they were doing anything wrong. They figured, hey, "it's just a lowland, full of water and snakes and stuff." When I see their faces, and let them hang themselves by poorly chosen explanations, I can't help but think they've never been told otherwise…..they have no idea what damage they're causing by their indifference. Apparently, our government acts pretty much the same, and I would never turn to them, to sort out an environmental crisis.

Like this bogland, that not so long was the target of our own town, that planned to sell it for residential lots, it will continue to be in environmental crisis as long as we have the arseholes, who are too cheap and stupid, to dump their refuse at the landfill site. The environment of Canada. Well, we've got a problem. I'm counting on the citizens of this country to force the matter…..and they will in time…..but as it may already be too late to save the planet……I'll just settle, to try and save The Bog.