Imagine taking your child to the playground for a fun and relaxing day only to be greeted by empty cans, juice boxes and other types of unsightly garbage. This is the complaint of many Carlyle residents and some are now fed-up, saying littering is slowly becoming a trend at the local playground.
The Carlyle community playground is located at the intersection of Coteau Ave W and 1st St. W and on any given evening children can be seen playing as it's used on a regular basis by local kids. However, in the midst of all the frolicking, standing at a distance one would not easily recognize the straws stuck in the sand and cans resting in the corners of the playground. Local resident Jennifer Deimuth decided to voice her opinion on the matter and said she is appalled at the current state of the playground and said she can't recall the condition of park being so bad last summer. She explained that this year however "it just seems to be, pop bottles straws, candy wrappers and juices boxes everywhere you look."
"It's just disgusting, you know I don't feel I should have to come here and spend 10 minutes of my time cleaning up the park so that my kid isn't picking up garbage straws or pop bottles and putting them in his mouth," Deimuth said after picking up litter from the corner of the playground.
She said there's even more danger to kids who have allergies as a lot of times she has found granola and chocolate bar wrappers on the grounds and stressed that children could unknowingly pickup these wrappers. Deimuth also mentioned that she has found glass which is also a hazard for unsuspecting children and said those who use the park should help keep it clean.
"We have garbage cans-use the garbage cans, leave glass out of the playground so that when our kids are going down the slides their not sliding down into broken shards of glass," Deimuth said.
One of the rules listed on the sign that can be seen upon entering the playground clearly states that no bottled drinks are allowed. In addition to this rule, it also states that litter containers should be used.
President of the Carlyle beatification committee Jennifer Sedor said the issue will be brought up at their next meeting on Sept. 23, but stressed the cleanliness of not only the playground, but the entire town is everyone's responsibility.
"It is up to all of us to take care of our public spaces by not littering or defacing the property. The town staff and local volunteer groups can only do so much and aren't available on an on call basis to pick up litter," she said.
"If we are going to keep our public spaces in good condition and in a state that we want to bring our children to play at,then we all have to pitch in. Let your children know the consequences of littering, teach your children not to litter and to pick up after themselves. That is the only sustainable solution."
