Who's Trashing Our Town?
By Judy Haegele of Harmony Gift Baskets
Pop Quiz
Don’t you love articles that start off with a quiz? Don’t worry, it’s easy and there’s only one question.
See the picture to the left. Can you name this item?
If you guessed “Top Cat’s home”, you are on the right track, but not quite what we were looking for. (In addition, you are giving away your age as this was one of my favorite cartoons as a kid!)
If you guessed “Trash can” you are correct! You get bonus points if you know how to work it. Do you detect some sarcasm? Maybe a little. To quote Ellen Degeneres: “The good news is I have a pet. The bad news is - it’s a pet peeve.”
Is it just me, or have you too noticed the abundance of litter along our roadways, in fields, in parking lots, and even on the lawns of your friends and neighbors? Look around and you can easily find an assortment of candy wrappers, beer bottles, paper cups, cardboard boxes, and even dirty diapers in the most inappropriate places. Where does all this stuff come from and why is it all over our roads?
Impact
Before we even get into those questions, let’s talk about just a few of the effects of all this trash.
- First, there’s the ugliness factor. Let’s face it; do you know anyone who thinks this is attractive?
- Excessive amounts of trash become breeding ground for insects, rodents, and disease.
- Some of it ends up in rivers and streams impacting wildlife and perhaps even our drinking water.
- What about the cost of cleanup? Who do you think is paying for it? Hint: I can think of better uses for my tax dollars.
Sources
Where is it all coming from? There are two main categories of sources:
- Unintentional: For example, unsecured items falling off of vehicles. While this type of littering may be accidental, it’s still avoidable in many cases by properly securing and/or covering up the items.
- Intentional: This includes items thrown out of car windows or simply tossed on the street by pedestrians.
Why
Why does this happen? I struggle with this a bit because it’s something I would never do, but I’ve come up with a few thoughts.
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Ignorance. Maybe the person doesn’t realize the problems it causes. However, the fact that many places impose a fine for littering should give a clue that there is something wrong with it. I’m sorry, but ignorance is no longer an excuse.
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Lack of pride. I have actually seen people throw trash on their own front lawns while sitting on their porch. I don’t even know what to say about this. If you don’t have enough pride to keep your own trash off your own property, then I’m sure there are many other things in life you don’t care about either. And you surely won’t care about leaving trash on someone else’s or on public property.
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The “not my problem attitude”. I don’t want the trash in MY car. If I throw it out the window, it’s no longer my problem. Again, I have been behind cars where the packaging for an entire meal for 4 gets tossed out the window without a second thought. Is it really that tough to stuff it all in the bag it came in and dispose of it at the next rest stop or at your final destination?
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Laziness. I have seen people within arms length of a trash can throw their trash on the ground. I’ve come to the conclusion that these are probably the same people who would rather leave their shopping cart in the path of someone else’s car than walk it 10 feet to the cart return area. (Hmm. Perhaps a pet peeve for a future article.)
What can you do?
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Be responsible for your own property. When I go out to cut the lawn, I take a trash bag with me and pick up the trash that has been strewn around by people driving by. Some days, I fill the bag which is pretty disgusting.
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Pick up trash if you see it. Recently I got out of my car in a parking lot and at my feet was a paper cup from a nearby fast food restaurant. I picked it up and threw it in the trash can that was about 5 feet from where the cup lay. It took all of 1 second. Would you believe a few people gave me a weird look?
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Become involved in community clean up activities. Some towns have groups that sponsor “clean up days”.
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Most of all - DON’T LITTER!