Clean Up Windsor Campaign
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[edit] The Clean Up Windsor Campaign
[edit] Local action. Global Inspiration.
The Clean Up Windsor Campaign (CUWC) is a public awareness campaign that was created in 2010 to address the problems of litter, and littering in the city of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It has been developed by a group of concerned citizens, after seeing how badly littering affects not only our local ecosystems, but the ecosystems of the world.
[edit] Our Mission
Our mission is to educate people about the negative and devastating effects that littering has on our local, and global ecosystems, and get people to realize that plastic litter will not go away, and the only time to fix things is now. Our goal is to motivate people locally and globally to rid our planet of litter through education, and eco-activism, and organized clean ups, and events. We also support other 'green' organizations, and activities as a means of bringing together the 'green' and environmentally active community.
[edit] Why Should You Care?
In today's world the amount of plastic packaging, bottles, wrappers, cups, lids, straws, bags and other things that get produced each year around the world range in the hundreds of billions, if not more. Many of this plastic winds up on our lawns, parks, school yards, in our gutters, sewers, and other drainage systems which lead to our streams, lakes, rivers, and eventually the oceans.
Once in the ocean it floats around, and slowly falls apart due to sun and physical damage, but never breaks down or biodegrades. In the oceans plastic kills countless numbers of marine life. The plastic bits get in the way of their food sources, and end up being swallowed as well. Eventually the plastic fill their stomachs because they can not pass it through their bodies because it won't break down, this causes them to die a long and painful death from starvation since they can't fit anything else in their stomachs. If starvation isn't what kills them; plastic absorbs chemicals, toxins, and poisons from the ocean up to a million times concentration. Whales, and dolphins have been recently been shown to be developing breast cancer, as well as a host of other diseases which can be attributed to plastic, and poor water quality. Some fish have even been reported to be affected to the point at which there are lower and lower numbers of males being born, which can be attributed to the presence of BPA, and other plasticizers used in the manufacturing, and chemical leeching from plastics.
[edit] Think of the Future
Think of the last time you walked around a DIDN'T see a bunch of litter being blown by the wind, stuck to a fence, or laying on the ground. If you can remember, it was most likely in a park, where city workers go out everyday to pick up OUR trash. Thats your money they are spending to pay people to go around for hours and pick up litter, if you like to litter, and you like to complain about things not being done in your city, then STOP LITTERING, that money could be used somewhere else. Wouldn't you agree?
Just think if they didn't pick up litter in our public parks. They would be horrible, not to mention the streets would be even worse!
This is just the beginning, and its not to late to change. OUR CHILDREN will have to solve this problem, if we don't! But we have the advantage of coming first, they future will be a future of environmental devastation, and decay. Sounds harsh, but litter is the most common seen, and commonly done form of environmental pollution. And we as a society are too blame, not big corporations, with no faces, and even less accountability where it is almost absolutely out of control to stop them, ITS US DOING IT TO US.
Do you want your children to grow up in a future where parks, look like secondary landfills, and the creeks where you used to catch frogs, and hangout with your friends, are nothing but plastic cesspools with no life to be heard of.
[edit] Want to Find Us?
Located in Windsor & Essex County, Ontario, Canada
Where on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=137908486237989
And Twitter! http://www.twitter.com/cleanupwindsor
And Wordpress! http://www.cleanupwindsorcampaign.wordpress.com
Yahoo! Too! clean_up_windsor@yahoo.ca
