Thoughts Along the Path . . .

A few days ago along with 10 other volunteers from Ayr, Greenfield, and Plattsville I helped to pickup litter filling 35 large bags along Cedar Creek Road from Trussler to the 401. 35 bags is a lot of litter, especially when you consider it has only been 6 months since a similar project along the same route. And that we do this twice a year and have done so since spring 2002.

What might this add up to? 11 volunteers is close to average, though 35 bags might be a bit on the high side. So I’ll do some math with 30 bags weighing about 5 kilos each twice a year for 24-1/2 years. Yikes, that’s 7,350 kilos of other people’s garbage! And 11 people for an average of 2 hours each (not counting preparation and transportation time) adds up to about 1078 hours of volunteer labour. Yikes again!

I tell myself that perhaps some of it isn’t exactly litter. Maybe something fell out of a car door or blew out of the back of a truck. And car accident debris is part of the mix. But explanations like that go only so far, as anyone who has ever been part of this kind of project knows. Most of it is obviously stuff that someone tossed out of a window or dumped out of a door. Try as I might, I cannot understand why anyone would leave litter along a public road on purpose.

With April being Earth Month and the date of this newspaper being on Earth Day, I have been thinking about this year’s theme. “Earth Day: Our Power, Our Planet.” What would happen if more people connected their personal power to make change and directed it toward care for our planet?

What do I mean by “personal power”? The phrase is defined as “the inner strength, confidence, and competence that enable an individual to influence their own life and the people around them, independent of formal authority.” In other words – volunteering, offering what we can do with the belief that it will make a difference.

When this project began in 2002, I organized it on behalf of the local Baha’i community. As a group we continue to host it, including social time and refreshments to follow with friends and neighbours who have been with us that day. Not only does this feel like a well-deserved reward but it also helps us to share stories. This time one person found a wallet with nothing of value in it. Did someone throw a wallet out of their window? Or perhaps someone had been robbed and the thief emptied the wallet and then tossed it. We’ll never know, and this is just one of the countless oddities from over the years.

Back to the theme of “Our Power, Our Planet.” I think that invites us to consider what we can do for the benefit of the environment and the creatures that inhabit it. Small actions by a few people do contribute to the whole. Cedar Creek Road is cleaner, and 11 people have enjoyed volunteering. What’s next?

Readers of this column will have their own answers as well as their own questions. In these exceptionally stressful times, it is easy to give up. I hope that instead of giving up we’ll come together as individuals, as groups large and small, to take care of our community and each other. Let’s make everyday an “Earth Day.”

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Submitted to Ayr News by Jaellayna Palmer April 2026