Would You Pick Up Someone Else’s Trash?
Making the world a better place one crumpled food wrapper at a time
I recently visited a friend in Washington DC. We’ve known each other for more than three decades. He is an integral influence in my life. He even helped plan my husband’s funeral. So he’s a close friend.
But he totally surprised me when we walked to dinner the other evening.
If we weren’t friends before — this would have made it so …
As we crossed the street from his home, I watched him pick up used food wrappers stuck along the curb.
Another 20 steps or so — he gathered in a couple of empty plastic water bottles. Further down the block — he scooped up crushed soda cans and a food container.
By the second block, I was picking up litter too.
There’s a large park across from his home. Ballfields, basketball courts, tennis courts, open grass to run. He said people are usually pretty good about policing their trash.
But on weekends and holidays, the trash cans overflow because they’re only emptied once a week. He’s trying to get the city to place more trash cans along the street. But until then, he picks up other people’s trash.
So much litter, so little time
Over dinner, my friend questioned if littering has gotten worse since the pandemic. By his anecdotal observations — yes. He’s also noted a dramatic increase in turnstile jumping at the Metro.
I wondered if the litter issue wasn’t also generational. What do today’s parents teach their children about littering and about picking up after others?
Also, today’s “kids” did not grow up with the same “Keep America Beautiful” campaign as boomers like me (born between 1946–1964.)
The iconic anti-litter image from my childhood was the “Crying Indian.” He was featured in TV and billboard ads — an Indian surveying a trash-clogged stream, then turning to the camera with a single tear in his eye.
Another TV version showed a highway traveler throwing a bag of trash out a car window — the bag lands at the Indian’s feet — again the Indian turns to the camera as a single tear trickles down his cheek.
That image has spent a lifetime with me. I’m from a generation that was culturally programmed to pick up litter — for the good of your neighborhood, your family and the world. It didn’t matter who left it.
That Public Service campaign — done in partnership with the Ad Council — is considered one of the most effective PSAs in the 70-year history of the Keep America Beautiful organization. Its impact diminished though when it was revealed that “Chief Iron Eyes Cody” wasn’t a real Native American.
Looking for ways to end litter
Keep America Beautiful has continued its anti-litter campaign for decades. And its 2020 National Litter Study showed:
- a 54 percent reduction in roadside litter over the decade
- almost a 70 percent reduction in cigarette butt litter between 2009–2020
- the Covid-19 pandemic impact varied; litter decreased where car and pedestrian traffic dropped like in downtown areas; littering increased in neighborhoods, parks and communities with increased human activity
Keep America Beautiful reported a slight uptick in litter from 2019 to 2020, after several years of a downward trend. — 2020 National Litter Study
So my friend’s observation is correct — there’s more litter, conditionally.
Walking in my Tampa neighborhood — one can see roadside trash is a problem here too.
I want cleaner streets. I want a better world. So like my friend, I’m picking up trash as I walk to my recreation center for a daily swim.
Keep America Beautiful suggests that each American pick up 152 pieces of litter:
Why 152? According to the latest Litter in America Study, if everyone made the individual action of picking up 152 pieces of litter (all at once) there would be no litter on the ground until someone littered again. #152andYou — 2020 National Litter Study
I’ve started on my 152. I’m certain my friend in Washington DC has already blown through that goal and will continue to do so until the city adds some trash cans on his block.
