To the Editor,
I expect that most people would see all the organizations, schools, and individuals involved in neighbourhood, roadside, and beach cleanups on Earth Day as a good thing. They are, of course, to be applauded for their efforts to improve our environment. However, the question that comes to my mind is: Why are good people, respectful of the environment, seemingly the only ones doing the cleanup?
In this ‘no one is held accountable’ era it would be timely to remember that minor offenders of society’s rules were once expected to carry out tasks to improve the community as part of their sentence. It is time for judges to reinstate litter-cleanup orders for minor criminal sentencing. I suspect a high proportion of those subject to the justice system are the ones tossing garbage around our city. It might even deter them from future littering. Similarly, schools need to reactivate neighbourhood litter cleanups by students who seriously break their rules. Their neighbours deserve a long-overdue break.
Gary KorpanNanaimo