I was horrified to see when I went to Double Bluff last weekend that, as of March 1, the county will stop picking up garbage there. I imagine this is true for all the other county parks too. Please join me in protesting this decision.

I know the county is severely challenged for money these days, but garbage collection is not where it should make the cuts. Other than roads, I have virtually no interaction with the county government. I’m not building a house, getting a disease that’s a danger to the public health or running a meth lab. I can’t off-hand think of anything more important to me on a day to day basis than garbage collection.

Looking at a landscape full of litter is depressing, but, more importantly, it’s also a health and environmental hazard with long-term consequences. This is not like a decision to save money by mowing the grass less often (or at all). Ignored garbage doesn’t go away. Even when it breaks down enough to become invisible it continues to cause harm, poisoning the environment. Will people really put dog poop and other trash in their cars and dispose of it at home? Very few will. Without trash collection, parks like Double Bluff Beach will become dog sewers and garbage dumps, poisoning the water and disgusting its users.

Please call or write the county immediately to prevent this! It’s not so easy to find email addresses (does that seem strange?). I couldn’t find one for the County Parks Department, so I sent it to the  commissioners and asked them to forward it. Their addresses are: district2@co.island.wa.us,district1@co.island.wa.us, district3@co.island.wa.us.
<strong>Sharon Emerson
Langley</strong>