Roadside trash (Photo 148217979 © Ian Thackwell | Dreamstime.com)

By Kevin Rothwell

No easy solution

Litter losers trashing Vernon streets

May 28, 2021 | 5:05 PM

Laziness, carelessness or they just don’t give a damn; whatever the reason, people are littering along Vernon streets and roads at an alarming rate.

“There are individuals nowadays that just huck things out their windows, they don’t have a care in the world. Probably the bigger culprits are the pick-up trucks that throw their litter in the back of the truck and it flies out while they are driving down the road. I have seen that multiple times over,” Coun. Kari Gares said.

From fast food wrappers to full bags of garbage, it can be found along many local streets and especially on heavily used roads like Bella Vista, Silver Star and Eastside roads.

That trio was the focus of city council after council members that drive those roads on a daily basis started noting an increase in roadside refuse.

A transportation department report indicated monthly garbage pickup on those three roads would cost $22,500 for March through October.

Fire spreads to house

Vernon home "significantly damaged" by grass fire

Apr 02, 2026

Youth Health Services

Youth immunization, sexual health clinic opening in Vernon

Apr 02, 2026

Displaced For A Week

Some residents still displaced from fatal apartment fire

Apr 01, 2026

“There are other programs out there, like adopt a road, there are other ways to clean this up rather than us having to do it. Just looking at the cost of this, there are other ways to do it,” Coun. Akbal Mund said. “Just to focus on these three roads, there are a lot of other roads in Vernon that have a lot of litter too.”

Councillor Brian Quiring feels a big part of the problem on Eastside Road is Ellison Park and the bike park.

“There is a marked increase when the campground opens. People take their garbage and they tie it to the back of their trailer, they leave the campground and half way back to Vernon, the garbage bag falls off,” Quiring said.

Coun. Gares noted a solution might be to have dumpsters placed at Ellison Park.

Vernon Mayor Victor Cumming also lives along Eastside/Okanagan Landing Road.

“We find a pocket of fast food restaurant stuff on that road on a regular basis. We also find there are beverages that are not supposed to be in a vehicle on that road. We had a neighbour that decided to cleanup the other day along a little stretch and picked up 36 wine bottles,” Cumming said.

The city will talk to B.C. Parks and the North Okanagan Cycling Society about additional waste bins on both sites.