By Luke Ettinger, Journalism student<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n SHUBENACADIE:<\/strong> Remi Roy has cleaned up litter near Highway 102 Exit 10 for almost 23 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt started bothering me,\u201d Roy said. \u201cThere is no fast food here, so there is no reason why we get all the extra Tim Horton\u2019s cups and wrappers from Subway,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exit 10 Shubenacadie is a part of the provinces volunteer driven Adopt-A-Highway program to clean up litter. Through the program a sign is placed along a section of road when it has been adopted by a community group or individual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roy said he inquired about an Adopt-A-Highway sign for the area 15 years ago and the program put up a sign with his name on it. He said after the sign went up garbage began to appear on his property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI started being the target,\u201d Roy said adding, \u201cthey associated the name with my place of residence.\u201d He said it was discouraging and asked Adopt-A-Highway to take the sign down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate group=”2″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate group=”6″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roy said he continued to clean up litter near Exit 10 and in other areas of the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the pandemic he has stopped collecting garbage, instead he is raking it into piles and leaving it there. \u201cIt has more effect to leave the garbage then people realize how much garbage is there,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Community members like Karen and Josie Thompson have also picked up after \u201clitter bugs\u201d at Exit 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”92″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”94″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Josie said they clean up the area one to two times a month and find fast food packaging, beer cans, needles and even one bag of animal carcases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is no point in littering, you are turning our village into a place that looks like a dump, have respect for the environment, at the rate we are going it’s not going to last forever,\u201d Josie said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Municipality staff will investigate ways to reduce litter to reinforce a sense of community pride in East Hants. The Infrastructure and Operations Committee recommended council direct staff to investigate litter reduction programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The motion was passed unanimously by Council in December. It says staff should work with various community groups in East Hants \u201cto establish a program to address the problem of littering around highway exits and other roadways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Councillor Keith Rhyno said at the Regular Meeting of Council in November that there were increased complaints about \u201cunsightly trash and litter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rhyno said litter hot spots are near hundred series highways, specifically Exit 10. \u201cI don\u2019t know why people do this,\u201d Rhyno said adding \u201cthere is more than Exit 10.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Garbage can be found along other roadways in the municipality. On Highway 215 in Noel, beer boxes, coffee containers and plastic bags filled with cans were littered next to the Cobequid Bay in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”96″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo Gallery: Beer boxes, coffee containers and plastic bags filled found along Highway 215 in Noel in December (Ettinger Photos).<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Adopt-A-Highway\u2019s annual report said volunteers collected more than 10,000 bags of litter during 557 cleanups in 2019<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Josie-Thompson-498x1024.jpg\")
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