We are so fortunate here in Bruce County to have a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Outdoorspeople and Explore The Bruce enthusiasts know that the Niagara Escarpment runs from Niagara Falls to the tip of the Bruce Peninsula, punctuated by “The Grotto.”
I spent four days last week hiking to and from my Cyprus Lake campsite and the Grotto, marveling at the power of water and ice, and exploring the many dolomite caverns, flora, and fauna in between.
The cerulean Georgian Bay waters slapping against the rocks is something expected of tropical beaches (though the temperatures are far from that).
The Grotto itself is magical little cave carved out of the escarpment, with a pool of cool, glowing blue water just asking to be explored by thousands of curious swimmers.
I’ve made the trek there a handful times now, just to climb around and take a dip in the bay, but I’ve never seen it as littered as it was last week.
I know no one reading this would be the ones to be so inconsiderate as to leave plastic bottles, beer bottles and cans, dirty diapers, clothing, towels, cigarette butts, and wrappers of all kinds in an unique ecologically sensitive phenomenon, here in our own back yard. Right?
It was an alarming contrast to see such a beautiful natural setting with people’s junk stuffed into almost every crevice.
My husband made a sarcastic comment to me while we were clamouring over rocks with about 1,000 other people:?“Hey, there’s a space,?I think I’ll throw my stuff (only he didn’t say “stuff”) there.” To which a passing lady snarked:?“or the wind just blew it there!”
Well, we?didn’t realize that once we put our water bottles down and the wind blew them away that we’re absolved of any responsibility for that litter.
And it was kind of symbolic to see band-aids stuck to rocks, as if to say to the earth “we need to heal you,” but paradoxical because it’s still litter.
I guess the increased amount of garbage can be attributed to the increased amount of visitors, but one would think that people coming from far and wide to interact with nature would be good enough stewards of the earth to preserve it for the enjoyment of future generations.
Or one would LIKE to think that.