Good Neighbours on Perth Road

Daniel Geleyn | Apr 21, 2021

Sharon Maitland, who has a cottage on Buck Lake, has taken the initiative to pick up garbage along Perth Road to improve her community and environment.

Maitland and her husband, who still have their house in Ottawa, have owned their property on Buck Lake for the last 10 years.

“It’s just a cottage really but because of COVID, I have been here permanently for the last year,” says Maitland. “It’s winterized and this is where I want to be.”

The small community on Norman Lane on Buck Lake used to be 70 per cent cottagers but more people are living there full-time now, especially now because of COVID-19.

Maitland says that her lane is really free of garbage as people living in her neighbourhood are quite good. But Perth Road, also known as Highway 10, is a different story and she refers to the garbage there as weed in a garden, there’s more of it every day.

“I’ve been concentrating on Highway 10, I’ve been widening my territory and I do almost all of it by foot,” she says. “I’m now going from Clear Lake Road all the way to Hidden Valley.” That’s a stretch of Perth Road that is almost nine kilometres long.

Most of the garbage she picks up along the road is recyclable, like cans, water bottles and coffee cups, and Maitland invests her time not only in picking up the garbage but also sorts it out for the regular recycling pick-up.

“I don’t understand, there are garbage cans everywhere, it makes no sense,” she says. “They should be teaching that type of responsibility more in schools,” she adds.

But Maitland’s efforts have certainly had a positive impact in her neighbourhood.

Jana Johnson, one of Maitland’s neighbours and a 15-year resident of the Buck Lake area, was so impressed by Maitland’s efforts that after hearing about the Good Neighbour project on CBC, she thought ‘I have a good neighbour.’

In her efforts to promote the good work being done by Maitland, Johnson shared her story on social media, including community pages for Buck Lake and Perth Road villagers.

“I though it was important to share her story on social media in our community because I figured those are the people who would see Sharon on a regular basis. Not only that they could recognize her with a friendly wave but also that she could recognize that her efforts are being valued because I’m sure it feels very thankless,” says Johnson.

Johnson is also committed to reducing garbage in her own daily life. She made a personal commitment to not take out paper coffee cups, even if it means not getting a coffee if she does not have her own reusable cup with her.

“I work from home because of COVID now, but when I drove to work, I can honestly say that there has never been a day when I didn’t see fresh garbage of fast food containers, and it’s shocking,” says Johnson.

Johnson and her husband have even gone as far as following cars when they saw the passengers throwing garbage out of their windows and giving the garbage back to the people saying ‘I think you dropped this’. Sometimes shaming people is the most effective way.

If you happen to see Maitland along Perth Road picking up garbage, let her know you appreciate what she does for our community. And if you have some time, join her efforts by cleaning up your own neighbourhood, every little bit helps to keep our environment and our beautiful area clean.

Even more important, pass the word that disposing of garbage on our roads is just not acceptable.