WEST ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) —

Lightning flashes and pouring rain on Thursday morning couldn’t slow Christian “Chris” Lachance’s pace trudging down Hazel Mill Road.

In the middle of the area’s latest thunderstorms, his gloved hands were full, clutching a pair of walking sticks along with handfuls of trash he kept stopping to pick up from the roadway.

“I get irritated people think it’s appropriate to throw their (stuff) out the window,” the 76-year-old retired insurance claims manager said.

Christian “Chris” Lachance, 76, is undeterred by the rain as he makes his daily walk picking up trash on Hazel Mill Road in West Asheville.
Christian “Chris” Lachance, 76, is undeterred by the rain as he makes his daily walk picking up trash on Hazel Mill Road in West Asheville.
Christian “Chris” Lachance, 76, is bothered by the drink cans, fast food flotsam and other items appear on the roadways on a daily basis.
Christian “Chris” Lachance, 76, sorts recyclables from litter during a break in his walk.
Christian “Chris” Lachance, 76, is undeterred by the rain as he makes his daily walk picking up trash on Hazel Mill Road in West Asheville.

WEATHER UPDATE: FLOOD ADVISORY, POWER OUTAGES PLAGUE REGION

Storm or no storm, this is his calling now — partly a health regimen and partly a crusade to beautify the community and change the world, by removing one piece of litter at a time.

“If you do something to make this world a better place, you’re headed in the right direction,” Lachance said, pausing to talk to a reporter under a canopy while the rains still poured and the lightning still lit up the clouds.

Lachance, originally from Quebec, Canada, moved to Asheville from Florida 12 years ago. He said a health scare about six years ago prompted him to change his life, eventually leading to his daily walks cleaning up fast food flotsam on a wide circle through the River Arts District and Haywood Road areas.

A bleeding ulcer left him in an intensive care unit at Advent Hospital. “I was laying on the bed. I said, ‘Bud, you can’t keep this up.'”

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER and BREAKING NEWS ALERTS from 828newsNOW.com

So Lachance changed his eating and drinking habits, stepped up his exercise and his walks showed him how much garbage thoughless people toss onto the streets on a daily basis.

In the pouring rain on Thursday, he talked about the fast food joints he blames for a good amount of the fresh litter he sees.

“It’s sad what we’re doing to this Earth, throwing trash out the window,” he said.

Before concerns about lightning prompted a reporter to end the interview, he was asked if bad weather ever deterred him from his self-appointed rounds.

Under a bright yellow rain slicker, he smiled and said, “It never does.”