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We live in a filthy dump. We don’t have to, but we do anyway. And it’s all our fault. We have no one to blame but ourselves.
This is not a joke, nor is it a cute play on words, which you sometimes see in this space.
It’s the truth, and if you don’t believe it, take a walk along a road. The bigger and busier the road, the more convincing the proof.
The edges of these roads are piled with trash. You name it, it’s there. You just have to walk far enough, and you’ll find whatever you’re looking for.
It’s an embarrassment — an absolute embarrassment. We’re better than this, aren’t we? We shouldn’t — and we can’t — let it continue.
We live in a disposable society. We acquire it, we use it and then we get rid of it — as soon as possible, anywhere. We don’t wait to discard it properly. We just toss it out the window as we speed down the road, because we’ve got better things to do. We can’t be bothered by holding on to it until we get to a garbage can or a recycling station. That’s beneath us — literally and figuratively.
It’s an epidemic. Not to the level of drugs, the rotten economy, joblessness, homelessness and the rest, but an epidemic nonetheless, because we’re burying ourselves in our own garbage. As we do it, we’re taking our beautiful communities and beautiful landscapes and making them as ugly as the laziness, carelessness, ignorance and irresponsibility that put the stuff there in the first place.
Not all of us dump junk by the carload, truckload and vanload. Some people do wait to find a garbage can or a recycling station.
However, all of us are still guilty because we allow it to happen. We’ve all had a part in creating a mindset where it’s OK to unload whatever, wherever. It didn’t used to be cool to be so sloppy, but now there is no public condemnation.
Conversely, it’s almost a public condemnation for those who choose to do something about it by picking up someone else’s litter. Remember that commercial from way back with the Native American who had a tear in his eye? People who pick up trash get that look as if they’re nerds or some do-gooder who doesn’t have something better to do with his time.
Every spring as the last bit of snow is melting, there is an organized litter cleanup around the Portage Lakes. That’s great. It’s wonderful that those hearty and dedicated volunteers do that.
But why do they have to do it?
And why is it that a year later, the trash problem is just as bad again?
Is it that we simply don’t care?
Knowing the people around here and how much we all think of the area we’re so blessed to call home, that’s impossible to believe.
We live in a filthy dump. We don’t have to, but we do anyway. And it’s all our fault. We have no one to blame but ourselves.
This is not a joke, nor is it a cute play on words, which you sometimes see in this space.
It’s the truth, and if you don’t believe it, take a walk along a road. The bigger and busier the road, the more convincing the proof.
The edges of these roads are piled with trash. You name it, it’s there. You just have to walk far enough, and you’ll find whatever you’re looking for.
It’s an embarrassment — an absolute embarrassment. We’re better than this, aren’t we? We shouldn’t — and we can’t — let it continue.
We live in a disposable society. We acquire it, we use it and then we get rid of it — as soon as possible, anywhere. We don’t wait to discard it properly. We just toss it out the window as we speed down the road, because we’ve got better things to do. We can’t be bothered by holding on to it until we get to a garbage can or a recycling station. That’s beneath us — literally and figuratively.
It’s an epidemic. Not to the level of drugs, the rotten economy, joblessness, homelessness and the rest, but an epidemic nonetheless, because we’re burying ourselves in our own garbage. As we do it, we’re taking our beautiful communities and beautiful landscapes and making them as ugly as the laziness, carelessness, ignorance and irresponsibility that put the stuff there in the first place.
Not all of us dump junk by the carload, truckload and vanload. Some people do wait to find a garbage can or a recycling station.
However, all of us are still guilty because we allow it to happen. We’ve all had a part in creating a mindset where it’s OK to unload whatever, wherever. It didn’t used to be cool to be so sloppy, but now there is no public condemnation.
Conversely, it’s almost a public condemnation for those who choose to do something about it by picking up someone else’s litter. Remember that commercial from way back with the Native American who had a tear in his eye? People who pick up trash get that look as if they’re nerds or some do-gooder who doesn’t have something better to do with his time.
Every spring as the last bit of snow is melting, there is an organized litter cleanup around the Portage Lakes. That’s great. It’s wonderful that those hearty and dedicated volunteers do that.
But why do they have to do it?
And why is it that a year later, the trash problem is just as bad again?
Is it that we simply don’t care?
Knowing the people around here and how much we all think of the area we’re so blessed to call home, that’s impossible to believe.
