Un-littering the landscape (Week 19)
"I see litter as part of a long continuum of anti-social behaviour."
Besides being one of the finest non-fiction writers in the English language, Bill Bryson is a committed environmentalist who has a lot to say about the modern way of things. And one of those things, unfortunately, is litter. In a week that saw an explorer uncover garbage in the deepest depths of the world (the Mariana Trench) and a team remove tons of garbage on the world's tallest mountain, I made a miniscule contribution to the effort by picking up trash every time I went out the door.
I know I looked ridiculous with a plastic bag (compostable!) attached to my waist and work gloves on as I walked down the sidewalk, but I was nonetheless pretty gob-smacked with how much litter I picked up on each journey. In my 15-minute walk to work, and this is in one of Canada's "cleanest" cities, I always collected at least half a pound of stuff people had thoughtlessly tossed aside.
The Pepsi cup really called out to me. I had to deconstruct its story in my head: someone is strolling down the sidewalk, slurping the last slurps of their big ol' half litre when they spot a lovely patch of grass fringing a rustic wooden fence and spring blossoms gathering at the edge. Hey, they think, ya know what would complete this idyllic picture? My lurid bright blue Pepsi cup! It's either that or I have to walk a whole two blocks to the garbage can. No way, says I!
If I had been 100% committed to my effort I would have picked up all the discarded cigarette butts, too. But they are just so small and finicky to deal with, not to mention gross, so I left them off my list. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that butts are the single largest contributor to the litter problem. I remember being part of a Victoria Green Teams beach cleanup where we had to get the butts as well as the other trash, and even document them on a clipboard. We counted over 1,000 butts in just under an hour of work. Like Bill Bryson said, the "anti-social" behaviour is ingrained, and smokers flick their butts as if it's a right, and no big deal.
After a week of strolling the sidewalks of my neighbourhood with my bag attached like I'd just had a colostomy, I felt like I'd made just the tiniest of dents in an almost insurmountable problem. But I also felt pretty good about simply doing it, and maybe that's where we all need to start. Now, about that supposedly compostable bag I was using. I also came across a rather disappointing story about these bags. Part of the truth is that many compostable bags merely carry a label, and there's no solid rule about how biodegradable they have to be. Even less encouraging is the finding that a biodegradable bag could still hold five pounds of groceries after 3 years in a compostable environment. Despite my good intentions, which are shared by so many, we're just not there yet.
We are a trashy society in so many ways. None of us, me included, can wash our guilt away or just move the problem further down the garbage cycle. Maybe it starts with awareness, but somewhere along the way, it has to become action.
NEXT WEEK: A different museum or gallery every day!
Besides being one of the finest non-fiction writers in the English language, Bill Bryson is a committed environmentalist who has a lot to say about the modern way of things. And one of those things, unfortunately, is litter. In a week that saw an explorer uncover garbage in the deepest depths of the world (the Mariana Trench) and a team remove tons of garbage on the world's tallest mountain, I made a miniscule contribution to the effort by picking up trash every time I went out the door.
I know I looked ridiculous with a plastic bag (compostable!) attached to my waist and work gloves on as I walked down the sidewalk, but I was nonetheless pretty gob-smacked with how much litter I picked up on each journey. In my 15-minute walk to work, and this is in one of Canada's "cleanest" cities, I always collected at least half a pound of stuff people had thoughtlessly tossed aside.
The Pepsi cup really called out to me. I had to deconstruct its story in my head: someone is strolling down the sidewalk, slurping the last slurps of their big ol' half litre when they spot a lovely patch of grass fringing a rustic wooden fence and spring blossoms gathering at the edge. Hey, they think, ya know what would complete this idyllic picture? My lurid bright blue Pepsi cup! It's either that or I have to walk a whole two blocks to the garbage can. No way, says I!
If I had been 100% committed to my effort I would have picked up all the discarded cigarette butts, too. But they are just so small and finicky to deal with, not to mention gross, so I left them off my list. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that butts are the single largest contributor to the litter problem. I remember being part of a Victoria Green Teams beach cleanup where we had to get the butts as well as the other trash, and even document them on a clipboard. We counted over 1,000 butts in just under an hour of work. Like Bill Bryson said, the "anti-social" behaviour is ingrained, and smokers flick their butts as if it's a right, and no big deal.
We are a trashy society in so many ways. None of us, me included, can wash our guilt away or just move the problem further down the garbage cycle. Maybe it starts with awareness, but somewhere along the way, it has to become action.
NEXT WEEK: A different museum or gallery every day!
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