Litter is far too common a sight in our community. Proving just how big a role Tim Horton's plays in our caffeinated lives, their cups, strewn throughout the CBRM, are particularly recognizable. They're a bit like trail markers. If you see them, you know that someone who couldn't find a trash bin has been there before you.

You don't need to drop your cup.

You don't need to drop your cup because there is rarely any need to do so. What might we ask the discarder-of-cups if we could find them?

Were you being chased by a rabid coyote, a swarm of disgruntled wasps, or a chihuahua that doesn't like your shoes?

Did your toddler just escape your grip and sprint towards the roadway?

Did you look down and see an earwig taking a big sip of your large double-double from the rim?

These are several reasons why you might reasonably drop your cup.

However, these reasons simply don't arise enough to account for all of the red cups lying along our streets and highways and country roads, in parking lots, on beaches, on trails, near fishing spots, and so many others places that are never very far away from a trash bin.

So don't drop your cup. You don't need to do it.

Of course, you might have other reasons that don't involve animals or insects or toddlers with quick reflexes. But those reasons probably just aren't good reasons, are they?

You're not helping keep someone employed by giving them more litter to pick up.

You're not impressing your friends. Sometimes people will chuckle with you while they silently take a mental note of your ignorance. 

You're not proving that you're cool because you don't give a ****. If your aim is to be rebellious, you'll have to do better than throwing a Tim Horton's cup on the ground to achieve the status you seek.

All of these are certainly reasons why you might do it. And all of them are really bad reasons.

So don't drop your cup.

Throw them in a trash bin nearby. You'll burn a calorie or so with the walk.

Keep them in your car until you get home, to work, or to a friend's. All of these are places where you'll be invited to deposit your empty cup into their bin - free of charge.

If you're on a walk and are far away from a trash bin, you can walk your empty cup back out the same way you walked the full one in.

Unless you look down and find yourself eye to antennae with an earwig, please don't drop your cup. Have some respect for yourself and your community.

NOTE: The views expressed above are my own and do not represent lokol (goCapeBreton.com). Read more