Remember this guy? When I was growing up, this ad campaign was a big deal. It got our attention and pointed out that littering was destroying the natural beauty of America. For my generation, littering became taboo. So what's happened? You can look around and see trash everywhere. Take a look in empty parking lots before businesses open and you'll see where people have cleaned out their cars and left piles of garbage right there on the pavement. Fast food bags, cups, bottles, cans, and even dirty diapers. More often than not, there is a trash can within walking distance, but apparently, that's too haaaaaaarrrrdddd. Seriously? You really think it's ok to just dump your crap out on the ground? Years ago I visited Yellowstone National Park with my sister. We saw the Morning Glory Pool which is a hot spring where a certain type of bacteria grow giving the water a beautiful blue color. Over the years, so much debris has been thrown into the pool some of the natural vents have been blocked and the color has slowly faded. In 1966, the pool was a periwinkle color. Today, it's a pale aqua. There is a large sign, titled Faded Glory, that explains how this hurts the spring, yet every year, the Park Service removes hundreds of rocks, coins, and other debris (trash) that tourists throw in. My sister and I witnessed a family letting their kids throw pennies in and making wishes. Apparently, they didn't think the sign applied to them and weren't very appreciative when we pointed it out. Maybe they should have been wishing for some smarts since it was obvious they didn't have any. The city I live in has an annual Ethnic Festival where 65 countries have booths featuring native food and merchandise along with a stage where dancers and musicians perform from all over the world. There are trash cans every 10 feet and at every booth and those cans are emptied regularly. Yet, at the end of the festival, when everyone has gone, the ground is covered in garbage. Empty water bottles (and some that are completely full), programs, paper plates, napkins, empty beer cups, plastic bags, dirty diapers, broken sunglasses, shoes (seriously, shoes?!), paper fans, and all kinds of other flotsam and jetsam are strewn from one end of the park to the other. I was completely stunned the first time I saw it. With so many trash cans provided, how do people justify just dropping garbage where they're standing? Do you really live this way? The one that really bugs me are cigarette butts. Look at the ground at any intersection or at any drive through. There will be hundreds of cigarette butts lying there. I was driving home one afternoon on a beautiful spring day with my windows down and the woman in the car in front of me tossed out her cigarette. It came through my window and hit me in the face. Just what I wanted: to be hit in the face by a nasty smelling butt that was on fire and had been in a stranger's mouth. At the next intersection, I got out of my car and gave it back to her. Granted, she was horrified that it had hit me, but why do smokers think the world is their ashtray? Cigarette butts don't break down. All this trash that people so cavalierly toss on the ground can end up in storm drains which empty into streams and lakes. It can attract feral animals. Wildlife can ingest it or get caught up in it. It looks and smells horrible. So why do people still do this? People start pollution, people can stop it. People behaving badly.
