Record staff
Norma Kellinghusen and Jennifer Williams took some time out of their evening swim recently to do a little tidying, and they came away not only with a haul of empties, but also a message for others: quit polluting the Puntledge.
“People tubing down the river seem to think it’s OK to drop their cans in the water along the way,” said Kellinghuser.
She and Williams picked up their collection at the popular swim hole across from the big rocks. Kellinghuser said cans and bottles litter the bottom of the river, and the banks, all the way down the tubing course.
“It takes about one hour to tube from the hatchery to Lewis Park. That’s not a long time to go without a drink,” she said. “Why not have drinks in a cooler waiting for you to enjoy after the event? Puntledge River has a lot of natural beauty and deserves to stay that way ... natural.”
Kellinghuser is not the only one taking notice.
Stu Macinnis sent an email to The Record last week,echoing the sentiments, after he collected 13 cans from the same area.
“It’s terrible that inconsiderate swimmers and tubers just sink their empties instead of taking them home,” Macinnis said. “I’ve lived in the comox Valley my entire life and it hurts and upsets me to see this. The next day I pulled 4 more empty cans out of the same part of the river.”