If you are anything like me, seeing the trash around your neighborhood gets under your skin and occasionally you pick up a piece of trash and put it in your trash can. I have in the past carried plastic bags when I walked my dogs to pick up trash littering my neighborhood streets, but I haven’t done it lately. I don’t really know why, it is probably out of frustration and to be honest some laziness. I mean it is so difficult to bend down and pick up that small piece of trash.
Today I walked to the post office instead of riding my bike because they are working on the road that I usually ride my bike on and I didn’t feel like putting the wheel on my mountain bike and dealing with the fact that it doesn’t have pedals I can use with regular shoes. I was on my way back when I noticed several beer bottles and other glass bottles and yes there was even a plastic bag. I was apparently in one of my lazy moods because I walked right past them, but thankfully I stopped and thought about it, I turned around and decided to pick them up. All that glass was perfectly recyclable and I could easily take it to R.A.M. to recycle when I took the rest of my glass down. Guess what? It only took me about 30 seconds to pick it up and thanks to the plastic bag I easily carried it home, except for one large malt liquor bottle which I had to carry in my other hand, I am sure it just showed how much fun I have on my walks.
The purpose of this post is to encourage everyone, including me, to simply pick up the litter around us and recycle what you can. You have plenty of opportunities to do it, trust me there is litter everywhere. Whenever you are out walking, whether it is with your dogs, on your way somewhere, or in a parking lot just stop for a second and pick up that piece of trash. If we all did this, our neighborhoods would look so much nicer. Of course, I also encourage you to not actually litter if you do that now, seriously there are trash cans everywhere, it’s not that hard.
Edited to add: Apparently there are not trash cans everywhere, I stand corrected. If you are visiting somewhere that does not have trash cans please dispose of trash responsibly.