I’m Not Trying to Change the World

Kevin Curry
Aug 24, 2017 · 5 min read

I’m just trying to do my part. If we all do that, the world will change itself. That’s why I’m so passionate about civic action. A little bit of practical action at scale is powerful.

Since I came back to Virginia Beach from Southwest Virginia in 1999 I’ve had a thing about trash and our local waterways. It started when my wife and I noticed all the trash in storm drains on family walks to the park. We progressed from awareness to action with the simple act of carrying a trash bag with us on our walks. When our daughter was old enough, we moved on to organizing a cleanup with friends and neighbors who noticed what we were doing. Eventually our family wound up as King’s Grant “Zone Captains” for Clean the Bay Day. We don’t lead the neighborhood Clean the Bay Day anymore but we are all still active in maintaining storm drains around our house and where we walk.

That’s how I ended up one day, on my way home from the One Life Fitness on Virginia Beach Boulevard, in a clutch of trees, on the banks of Wolfsnare Creek, standing in front of this:

Clearly someone used the spot on a regular basis for some time and no one had ever noticed. The hideaway is feet from a busy boulevard and just behind a regularly used bus stop.

So, I did what I always do. I walked the rest of the way home, got my old Clean the Bay Day supplies from the garage, walked back (clearing storm drains on the way), and cleaned up the spot.

I don’t write this to expect accolades for what I’ve done. I want to talk about how these acts have changed the way I see my streets, my neighborhood, and my city. I want to talk about how these acts have changed me and I how think about this person I’ve never met who leaves beer cans and plastic bottles next to the river.

I had given up being angry about litter well before I came home to Virginia Beach. Before that I lived in and around Blacksburg and Radford, Virginia — two college towns, the former where I went to school. It didn’t take long to notice the strong correlation of trash on the neighborhood streets where there was a 7–11 nearby, or how that trash grew on weekend mornings and after football games. I don’t blame 7–11, convenience stores, or humans for being human. I do wish more people who got drunk on a Friday night and left Big Bite boxes in the gutters would have the occasional sense to volunteer a few hours cleaning it up. But that’s not the point. I’m not trying to change the world. I’m trying to do my part.

All the same, I didn’t want this scene on the banks of Wolfsnare Creek to repeat itself, as I knew it would.

While I was cleaning up I found receipts — a dozen or more of them, and I noticed they all had something in common. All of these beers were purchased, two at a time, round 7AM in the morning. I set my mind to thinking about what to do. While I was thinking, some weeks passed, and I ventured back to the spot. Sure enough, it was filled with beer cans again. My mind started in the direction of holding this person accountable.

The first thing I’m sure most people think of when I say “hold this person accountable” is “call the police”. I’m considering it, not so much to have someone arrested or ticketed. I wonder about our precinct’s crisis trained officers who know how to get a person to help. I’m assuming, of course, this person has an alcohol addiction. Then again, maybe this person works a shitty night shift, washes it away most mornings with a quick buzz, and is just a littering jerk.

Eventually, I realized that while I might have feelings toward wanting to help a person in distress or punish a person who is a jerk, what I really want is for the littering to stop. That’s why I was there. That’s why I go back. I just want the littering to stop and the banks of a tidal river to stay clean. I kept asking myself, “what’s the best, easiest, most efficient way to stop the litter?”

So I spent $42 at Home Depot for a heavy duty trash can and a cable lock. I locked the can to the tree right on the spot where the beer cans were again collecting.

Some who read this will be quick to point out or at least think several things I already know so I’ll just cover them here, now.

This isn’t a permanent solution. This is an experiment. I know I’m signing myself up to empty the trash can. I effectively do that anyway. This is easier for me. What I really want to know is: can we work together—I and the morning drinker I don’t even know? If we can, maybe this person isn’t a total jerk and will empty the can once in a while. There’s an unlocked dumpster directly between the Walmart Neighborhood Market where the beers are bought and the hiding spot. Maybe someone else will volunteer to empty the can once in a while. Maybe I will eventually realize a time when it’s appropriate to hold this person accountable. I don’t know about any of that. I just want the litter to stop.

I think I’ll go back an put up a sign, “Please help me keep the river clean. God Bless you.”

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