However today, the day after Earth Day, I was slammed with the ongoing harsh reality that the residents of the Earth are doing a really crappy job at preservation. The educated and informed may be "concerned" about climate change and certainly many of us recycle and institute other smart conservation activities. But aesthetically, there is a real blight on our beautiful planet called LITTER and we need to get back to basics.
I worked at the motel today. It is a constant battle of picking up handfuls of cigarette butts, bottle caps, plastic bottles, etc. carelessly dropped on the ground. I walked the neighbors empty lot next door and filled a waste can with trash. The road side bushes across the street are a magnet for every drive-by "toss and run." I drive home and see where visitors pull their car to the side of the road to picnic and enjoy our "environmentally sensitive" and beautiful Keys - and leave their trash in a pile behind.
I cannot take my daily walk without picking up someone's water or Gatorade bottle tossed in our beautiful neighborhood park. I am astonished at the amount of litter on the roadways when I drive north to Miami. And take a boat ride offshore to go fishing and encounter the glorious weed line - where currents create a line of seaweed ripe with bait fish attracting bigger species and then see what is trapped in the natural elements. Unbelievable amounts of packaging waste.
I remember visiting Put-in-Bay in Lake Erie a couple summers ago and riding around the island with family in a giant golf cart. We were behind a group of young men, probably in their early 20's and we watched as one casually tossed his beer can to the road side after he finished drinking it. That visual stays with me. His blatant disregard for not only the property around him, but his uncaring attitude for every human being who would have to see and be affected by his selfish act haunts me. And angers me.
What is happening here? Is this the way it has always been and I am just getting older and less tolerant? Or is there a serious lack of caring about each other that is growing in our society? If we all share this home, then I want neater roommates!
I found these photos of Toronto's anti-littering campaign and I just love them. Perhaps shaming the culprits is the right way to go. Or getting back to fining them - stiffly!
