Stephanie Moram

The Trashy Pavement: I don't understand

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People need to stop littering. Seriously! Whatever happened to “Give a hoot, don’t pollute”? I think most people have thrown that saying out the window along with all their trash.

I decided since I don’t live near the ocean or a lake or river right now, that I would take time out of my week to clean the streets. I look at it as a preventative step; most trash ends up in our water anyways.

Off I went with my fine pair of gloves and my “trashy” bag as my daughter slept in her stroller. I am teaching her at a young age to protect and respect the environment you see.

I received many funny looks. Stares. And I am pretty sure people thought I was a sight for sorry eyes while I was pushing a stroller, wearing one glove, holding a bag full of trash bending over to pick up every piece of garbage along my path. I must have looked fabulous actually.

You will be shocked. I was. Just look at what and how much garbage I collected on my 2 mile walk. My bag was over flowing with trash. I didn’t go out of my way to pick-up the garbage. It was just there.

Most interesting thing; what I believe is half of a foam handle to a small bike. I think. Not sure.

The most common item; which I am not surprised about at all. Drum roll please: plastic water, juice and soda bottles; 19 to be exact. And some were even full. This brings lazy to a whole new level. You have water or juice or soda and can’t be bothered to bring it home to have for later? Instead you feel that throwing it in the streets is a much better option? Weird!

I cleaned and sorted all my trash into two piles; recyclables and non-recyclables. I will now recycle what I can and throw the rest in the dumpster. I guess putting it in the dumpster is better than leaving it in the streets.

Here is the trashy list:

Recyclables:

  • 19 water/juice/soda bottles
  • 1 malt liquor can
  • 1 soda can
  • 1 glass bottle
  • section of a newspaper
  • 1 cookie box
  • aluminum can lid

Non-recyclables:

  • candy wrappers
  • 1 straw holder from a juice box
  • 1 spoon
  • 2 chips bags
  • 2 chocolate bar wrappers
  • 1 juice pouch
  • 3 ice cream wrappers
  • 1 mini ice cream lid…never found the container
  • 2 lottery scratch tickets
  • 1 Styrofoam plate…Grrrr
  • 1 Styrofoam coffee cup
  • 1 plastic coffee lid
  • 2 cigarette packages
  • 1 random foam bike handle
  • 1 freeze wrapper
  • 1 piece of plastic from a Frisbee
  • 1 calling card
  • some paper
  • 1 air freshener which made the trash smell better

I personally just don’t get it. Even before I was this crazed green, tree hugging girl; I never thought to throw my trash in the streets. I at least put it in it’s appropriate place i.e. garbage can.

I have come to realize people take our planet for granted; some people really just don’t care. And I find it a hard pill to swallow. I don’t understand. We only have one planet and we are doing a great job at trashing it.

You’re welcome Williamsport, PA for all my hard work helping to clean your streets. Maybe someone else who is on the city’s payroll should try it sometime. You know-clean the streets.

Anyone else ever just randomly pick-up trash while out and about or plan an outing to do so? Or am I one of the only trash pickers out there?

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Comments

  1. Jennifer says

    It is a crying shame, honestly. I can’t believe that people think littering is okay! It makes me sad to think that people don’t care about the environment – not to mention that it is simply not okay to throw trash wherever you feel like it! Can’t they make the effort to walk the five feet to the trash can and throw it there? *sigh*

  2. Roxy says

    Hi there GoodGirlGoneGreen 🙂

    I feel exactly the same. I think people here in South Africa will use the excuse that the bins are so overflowing anyway it doesn’t make any difference where they throw their rubbish. What an awful excuse! So, on my run today, I am going to pick up all the rubbish I see!

    Anyway before I get too distracted, just following from the hop 🙂
    Come by and say hi sometime 🙂

    http://citygirlsearching.blogspot.com/

  3. Heather says

    Kudos to you for taking the trash bag along!!! My son’s tricycle has a “bucket” in the back that he fills with trash when we go riding. I like to think he wants to help Mother Earth, however I’m pretty sure he just likes to collect things 🙂

  4. Lioness says

    Your post brings to mind the poem ‘God’s Grandeur’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins. I think you might find it interesting. It is amazing how people just thinks its okay to litter. What kind of world will children’s children inherit?

    I can see that there is a lot of attention to details in the over all presentation of your blog. I like that.

    Thank you for stopping by my blog.

    Lioness- Your Newest Follower

  5. Jellybelly says

    I live in a third world country and trash in the street is a common sight. There are not enough garbage cans to encourage people to throw trash properly. Our government needs to do more to address this problem.

    Got here from Mom Blog Monday bloghop!

    The Twerp and I

  6. Jessica says

    My kids love to pick up trash on our walks. What’s even more fun is picking up trash in the dark. Add a flashlight and picking up trash is like the best fun ever. I can remember when I was a kid that people used to throw trash out the window. I hope we’ve gotten better than that!

  7. Olivia says

    This is insane!!! We live out in the country and frequently find trash in our front yard that people have thrown out of their car windows. I just don’t get it, why can’t they just wait until they get home?!!!

  8. Melisa - Mommy This and That says

    I really am amazed by the trash in the streets. Just the other day we were driving and I saw half a bottle of soda on the side of the road. I asked the husband if he thought people just decided “I’m done…what should I do? Oh wait, I’ll just throw it out the window.” He shrugged and then we both decided that people just don’t care. And it is these same people that will cry and complain the loudest if the environment gets them sick!

  14. Shah Wharton says

    It is awful how people treat oh planet – simple things can make such a difference and yet its such a struggle to convince people to make the tiniest effort.

    Here form the hop. Shah. X

  16. vanessa says

    Great Blog!

    I actually did just that at some point. Where I live a lot of people throw trash on the street, so one day I just had about it had it, brought a bag and picked up a lot of garbage. Don’t know if I helped, so now I just take care of my own trash, dispose of it correctly, recycle or compost.

  17. JoKing says

    After sailing in the BOC solo yacht race around the world in 1987. Ian Kiernan returned to Australia disgusted at all the rubbish floating in the oceans. In 1989, he organised the first “Clean Up Sydney Day” with over 300,000 volunteers turning up to pick up litter. The next year “Clean Up Australia Day” was launched with cars and other rubbish being pulled out of rivers, harbours and bushland in addition to litter collection. In 1990, the campaign went global with “Clean Up The World Day” with 30 million volunteers in 80 countries. This year, 35 million volunteers turned out in 120 countries and “Clean Up Australia Day” gets bigger and better every year. Despite all of this good work, tax dollars are spent to clean up after Christmas Day on Bondi Beach, and following music festivals and professional sporting matches. Some schools use “bucket duty” detentions instead of teaching anti-littering policies. Good luck with your quest!