Fishers degrade river with garbage

By NUNATSIAQ NEWS

Where people are, garbage is unfortunately inevitable, due to a “throw-away society” and products that are made to be thrown out.

One just has to walk through Iqaluit to become aware of that. Sylvia Grinnell Park is a territorial park that probably was created for the enjoyment and beauty of its scenery.

In recent weeks, this landscape has been degraded by fishers, Inuit and non-Inuit alike. Garbage can be found along the trail leading from the outlook platform down to the banks of the river, up to the falls.

And what can be found there ranges from empty beer bottles and cans, plastic bottles, dead fish, fishing hooks to endless meters of fishing line and plastic bags.

It is very difficult for me to understand how people can be so careless, lazy, egocentric, and rude to bring their products and leave them as waste behind for others to “enjoy.” I also thought that there was an attitude of taking care of “our land,” but I am obviously wrong.

Yes, one probably could have another by-law from the Amarok HTO, or the Department of Environment, or put up more garbage containers by the falls.

But when it comes down to it, one should use their common sense and brain: don’t do anything that you would not want anybody else to do.

So if you go fishing, and you find garbage that is not yours, pick it up, take it home, and remind any person littering that it is not ethical, unless we all want the Sylvia Grinnell park area to look like the garbage dump in a few years.

Markus Dyck
Iqaluit

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