Yesterday munchkin and I went on what I hope will be one of many of our “daily walks” which we haven’t done since we’ve all been sick in our household. We decided to go on the walk quite suddenly yesterday morning before we had lunch, and as we were leaving I remembered how much trash we usually see on the road as we go, and remembering my pledge to the Gods to help clean up our local environment I grabbed a plastic grocery bag that was on the table and took it with us to pick up some of the odds and sods that we might find.
The munchkin was very willing to help pick up the things I couldn’t duck under and reach.
He was also very agreeable that any time we go on a walk we fill another plastic bag to throw out until we’re done. I then might start tackling some of the underbrush that’s choking the other trees and plants.
It wasn’t an entirely gross experience except for the cup you can see at the top of the bag which I thought was full of leaves but turned out to be full of tobacco leavings. I didn’t realize that until I started to tip it out.
It saddens me that so many of my neighbors apparently just throw things out of their car windows as they’re driving down the road. Especially given their houses are not that far away, they could just throw it into the trash once they get home or get to work, but no, we found soda cans, beer cans, certificates, receipts, fast food containers and I’m sure there are more joys to find, but it makes me very happy that we’re fixing this for our local environment and that I can teach the munchkin respect for nature.
Gods, its the same thing me and the boychild do when visiting our parks up here. It’s triply awful at the fishing rivers, just choked with monofiliment wire and lures ( once I pulled out seven lures and assorted string from the river at once.
Boychild will help spot things in the brush- and we have trashbags in the car specifically for this. Springtime/breakup it’s really bad, people just throw their trash out the window, and you don’t see it until all the snow melts. In Fairbanks they have a day set aside for it- the University campus gets involved and there’s a contest for how much trash you find.
It’s that bad up here.
When you walk for five hours and you see a pop can off the beaten trail, in Alaska, it breaks my heart.
Thank you for doing this. I might not be there, but a every little bit counts! This is wonderful for both you and your boychild- you are doing an awesome job!