Pet Peeve Persists
I will be the first to admit that I am far from an environmentalists. I am for more drilling in Alaska, replacement tree harvesting, nuclear power, coal mining, natural gas exploration and even wind, solar and other methods of achieving fuel independence. I am against allowing the blue-toed, frog-bellied, orange-winged sap sucker flea (or whatever current endangered species they have discovered) to force people out of work or even their homes because somebody says they are more important than the human species. But one thing that does bug me is the large am0unts of litter that continues to appear on the sides of roads and highways all across the US.
I am guilty of having created some of that litter in the past. As a matter of fact, I used to think nothing of tossing my empty coke bottle on the side of the road. After all, some poor kid would just come along to collect it for the deposit money. But my attitude changed one day with the aid of a peer. After carelessly tossing one of my seemingly minuscule additions to the cluttered roads, my friend slammed on her breaks and told me to get out and pick it up. I thought she was joking at first, but she refused to continue driving until I retrieved the illegally placed bit of flotsam that was now floating in the highway grass.
This experience changed my own opinion about the casual act of littering. Since that day I have been just as adamant a supporter of the anti-litter policy whenever I am driving. I have even stopped my car and demanded that a passenger retrieve their misplaced garbage as well. But there are far too few members of the "Keep Our Roads Clean" club. I wonder how many of those who casually toss their trash would be happy if everyone else tossed trash into their yard? Just imagine how nice our neighborhoods, highways and byways would look if more people took the time to dispose of trash in the proper place.
I am guilty of having created some of that litter in the past. As a matter of fact, I used to think nothing of tossing my empty coke bottle on the side of the road. After all, some poor kid would just come along to collect it for the deposit money. But my attitude changed one day with the aid of a peer. After carelessly tossing one of my seemingly minuscule additions to the cluttered roads, my friend slammed on her breaks and told me to get out and pick it up. I thought she was joking at first, but she refused to continue driving until I retrieved the illegally placed bit of flotsam that was now floating in the highway grass.
This experience changed my own opinion about the casual act of littering. Since that day I have been just as adamant a supporter of the anti-litter policy whenever I am driving. I have even stopped my car and demanded that a passenger retrieve their misplaced garbage as well. But there are far too few members of the "Keep Our Roads Clean" club. I wonder how many of those who casually toss their trash would be happy if everyone else tossed trash into their yard? Just imagine how nice our neighborhoods, highways and byways would look if more people took the time to dispose of trash in the proper place.
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