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The Earth is not your personal garbage can
To the Editor:
Today's balmy temperatures motivated me to get out of the house for a Sunday afternoon walk. Knowing that I would encounter some trash along the way, I grabbed a large trash bag. I could get some exercise and pick up a little garbage at the same time, a win - win activity that would be good for both my personal health and the health of my surroundings. Within less than a quarter of a mile on my journey, the trash bag was bulging. As I found myself stopping to bend over more than walking, I also found myself shaking my head and muttering the same question repeatedly: What is wrong with people?
Sometimes items blow out of our hands or away from our houses and construction sites, and they are difficult to retrieve. I get that. But 99% of the refuse in my bulging bag was clearly the result of people deliberately heaving their personal junk out the open window of a moving vehicle. There is simply no other way to explain the inexcusable presence of soda cans, beer cans (one even unopened), water bottles, broom handles, and a shaving cream can decorating the roadside.
The bag was getting heavy, so I cut my Sunday stroll short, crossed the road and headed back toward home. Things were decidedly worse on the other side. In the short distance back to my house, I could easily have filled another two bags. Again, I had to ask: What is wrong with people?
Here in Central Pennsylvania, we have been blessed with an abundance of natural beauty in our mountains, valleys, country roads, walking trails, small villages, and towns. Lest we take that natural beauty for granted, all of us should periodically make a trip to other parts of the Commonwealth such as Philadelphia. I lived and worked in the Philadelphia area for several years. I know first-hand why many refer to the city as "Filthadelphia." But don't take my word for it. I urge you to take a day trip to go see for yourself mounds of garbage strewn thoughtlessly around streets and intersections by people who clearly do not care. And when you get back home, appreciate what we have here and commit yourself to doing your part to keep it that way.
Could our precious bit of God's good earth ever compare to the unsightly squalor of "Filthadelphia?" Not if we care enough to keep it from happening. Not if we care enough to keep our trash in the car.
Friends, if you are inclined to heave your bottles, cans, and other pieces of junk from your vehicle, may I ask you to stop and think before you throw? May I ask you to remember that the earth is not your personal garbage can and that fellow inhabitants of our shared space must live, work, play, and travel in the messes you make?
It will take several more Sunday afternoon walks to get the roadside in my neck of the woods cleaned up, but I like to walk, and taking along a trash bag isn't that difficult. Will you join me? If you have a good pair of legs, I encourage you to take regular walks around your neck of the woods. And as we walk together, let us dream of - and work for - the day when we don't have to take trash bags along with us.
Kevin Zook
Lewistown