Trash Ticks Me Off
September 17, 2007 | In Easy Ways To Help |
Trash ticks me off. Not the fact that it exists. No - the fact that so many lazy, shortsighted people don’t bother to take a few extra minutes to put it where it belongs.
Photo by Topato
A few months ago, my husband and I decided to hike regularly. Luckily, there is a state park about 10 minutes up the road with a lot of hiking trails. We can easily set out for a hike and spend 2 hours under the trees. It didn’t even occur to me to take a trash bag with me the first time we went. We took a backpack and some bottles of water. When the bottles were empty, we put them back in the backpack. Simple, right?
Well, apparently is was for us, but not for a lot of others. We passed all kinds of trash on our hike: paper cups, soda cans, old clothes, plastic bags, empty bottles of motor oil - I kid you not - beer cans, cigarette wrappers and butts. At one point on the trail, we stopped to sit on a rock at the edge of a stream and watch the water flow over the rocks. My husband looked sideways and there was an empty fast food cup - complete with lid and straw. He asked me if it was weird to want to bring a trash bag. I replied, no, I was thinking the same thing.
We’ve been back to hike several times since then, and each time we bring a trash bag. Just this past weekend, we took 3 bags of trash out of the forest and back to “civilization.” We would have brought more, but a lot of it was hard to reach.
Why Are People So Rude?
Do people think that if you throw it hard enough you get more points? Is the world a better place if your soda can gets three trees away instead of just off the trail? What’s up with that? And here’s another question - why was there more trash within steps of the parking lot than ½ hour into the forest? Surely taking the 20 steps back to your car instead of tossing your trash isn’t that terribly hard? Of course, given that a lot of that trash was empty alcohol containers (not just beer cans, but empty hard liquor bottles) - maybe drunk people don’t give a damn.
Can you tell I’m mad? It gets worse - the amount of trash I see. Ok, deep in the forest about ½ an hour down the trail, there aren’t exactly flip top trash cans. So, those folks who want to throw their trash away properly don’t have a receptacle in which to do so. (Take it with you! Apparently too hard for some, but anyway.) But, how about on parking lots?
Yesterday, my husband and I picked up a discarded fast food bag and cup and walked them to the - wait for it - TRASH CAN - only 2 parking spaces away. Why, when the can is RIGHT THERE do people not put their trash in it? Do we need drive up trash cans now? I mean really people, what’s up with that?
Ok, I’ll stop ranting now. I’m going to make a presumption that if you are reading this, you are not a litterer. I’m going to give my readers the benefit of the doubt that you are smart, caring folks who take your trash with you if there is no can, or put it in the can if there is one.
We Must Pick Up The Slack
But, what about those folks who aren’t reading this - who aren’t smart, caring folks? Well, as with many things in life, it is up to us to pick up the slack.
I must make a confession - one of those three bags we brought back with us was filled by someone else. Someone else who was probably doing the same thing we were - picking up trash on the trail. However, for whatever reason, that person didn’t take the next step and put the bag in a can somewhere. They left it on the side of the parking lot. So, I give them slight kudos, but lower marks for not completing the task.
Making a difference doesn’t have to take a lot of effort or money. And here is one way that we can make a difference without spending a lot of effort or money. When you go anywhere, in addition to throwing away your own trash, I encourage to you pick up the trash of others. If this is too yucky, take a bag with you wherever you go and pick up the trash with the bag, using it as a makeshift glove. This is what we did in the forest. It works.
My main point has been made - I hope :). But, before I go, I want to leave you with some extra words of encouragement - you are not alone. My husband and I will continue to pick up trash when it needs to be done. Won’t you join us in making the world a little cleaner?
Photo Credits: Crushed Budweiser Can by schizoform; Fast Food Trash by Taekwonweirdo
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