Pick Up Your Own Darn Trash!
While carpooling to work today, we stopped at a traffic light. Bored, I glanced over to the neighboring Jack in the Box restaurant and noticed a small bird flitting around. I didn’t take much notice until I saw what the bird was chasing; a two-inch-long piece of a straw wrapper.
OK, big deal. Birds all over the world gather little twigs, leaves, and pieces of trash to use in the building of their nests.
Yeah, but why can’t we humans pick up our own trash?
Why do we think it adorable when we find an old, discarded nest that a bird has lined with our trash? They pick up all all sorts of rubbish for their nests for support and warmth, yet we can’t be bothered to pick up our own garbage? Worse yet, we (and I often shudder to include myself in the we that refers to collective mankind) make the conscious decision to litter. I’ve seen hundreds of people in my lifetime throw gum wrappers, cigarette butts, candy wrappers, coffee cups on the ground, in gutters, in bushes.
Please don’t litter. I think the birds can find other building materials for their nests without your help.
Au contraire. Exempting corporations more interested in the immediate bottom line and lining already silk-lined executive pockets than providing any long term return to their shareholders (yeah, it’s been one of THOSE mornings) I don’t think most littering is done consciously.
I’m sure that if you grab someone a moment after they litter and ask them why they did that they would have no idea what you’re talking about. Many times I’ve seen someone toss a cigarette butt out their car window. (You could add cigarettes to your list of the NRA, Barney and, uh, oh, you already have. Never mind.) It’s an unconscious act. They simply aren’t thinking. Like planarian worms moving away from a hot spot they’re instictively responding to an uncomfortable stimulus (a cigarette that is no longer of interest to them). And it’s easier to toss it out the window than stick it in the ashtray with which all cars still come equipped.
I mean, why stink up your own car when you can just toss it out into the world and immediately forget about it. It’s not like the action has any consequences. (I must admit a fantasy of mine is to pick up the butt and toss it back into the offender’s car with a very polite “Excuse me sir. You dropped this.” But I digress.)
Ahhh, man, you beat me to it. I guess I’ll have to settle with seconding the motion.