Roadside cleanup yields 'discouraging' number of alcohol bottles and cans

A P.E.I. man says he is both "disgusted and discouraged" at the number of empty cans and bottles of beer and liquor his son found on a recent roadside cleanup near his home.

Rand MacKay of Marshfield, north of Charlottetown, is disturbed about what the find suggests about drinking and driving in his community. The bottles had not been dumped in one place. They appeared to have been tossed one at a time from passing vehicles.

MacKay had seen a few bottles in the ditch, and suggested to his nine-year-old son Jonathan that there might be a little money in deposits there if he collected them.

"I wanted to get the money and clean up the community," said Jonathan.

"I thought it was all going to be pop bottles, but I was wrong because, like, there was beer, rum, whiskey and vodka."

Jonathan's father said they counted more than 100 alcoholic beverage containers that they picked up along just one side of a 900-metre stretch of Route 25 where it approaches York.

Problem getting worse

MacKay said they found empty cannabis containers as well.

"I'm really disgusted and discouraged at that in 2021 we're still talking about this," he said.

These individuals live ... in my community Rand MacKay

MacKay said he was involved in some roadside cleanups about a decade ago, and the problem appears to have gotten worse.

It was particularly disturbing to find the discarded cans and bottles so close to his home.

"These individuals live either in my community or in the communities that are just north of me," he said.

"I would say most of these individuals would be driving to or from their home or visiting a friend who lives just in my community."

MacKay posted what his son had found on his Facebook page, both to warn people in community about what is going on, and to let others know their behaviour is not going unnoticed.

He has a message for those people, and so does his nine-year-old son.

"Please don't litter in the community or anywhere else. Don't drink and drive."

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