- In Part 1 of Trashing America, I covered the obvious
littering of America in many forms. As the series continues, you will read
about other litter that you can't see, but is even more dangerous than
the litter you can see.
-
- Nonetheless, the piece hit a cord of discontent. Here
are some of the responses from more than 100 reader responses:
-
- "I am 75 years of age, but I always keep my yard
and garden mowed, trimmed and clean. I plant a vegetable garden
in my back yard every summer. People come along and steal from it, while
marauding, unsupervised kids and teenagers pick my unripe apples,
plums, berries and grapes and throw them at each other. Oh, what fun!
I have gone outside and kindly offered to give them fruit if they leave
it until it becomes ripe, just knock on my door and ask for a
sack. But they give me the middle finger. Every day, people drive by and
throw their trash, plastic bottles, McDonald's wrappers and bags in my
yard, and I have to clean it up. Yes, people are horrible slobs. Why? Because
moms and dads quit teaching morals, values, principles and ethics a long
time ago. They are out working to satisfy their insatiable desire for Chinese
crap that they can use as future litter.
-
- "When my kids were small (back in the 60s), we lived
at the beach in So. CA. At the time, there was a deposit on soda bottles.
They made all their spending money picking up bottles and returning them
to the stores. Today, my son (age 52) is a greens keeper at a golf
course here in Illinois. Of course, when fall arrives, the golf courses
close, so he takes to the streets and roads and earns money picking
up cans and selling them. Just think, if all the millions of unemployed Americans
on unemployment compensation would get off their duffs, they could
clean up America in no time at all." Ruth P. Fairfield, IL
-
- "Just read your most recent NWV article, part 1,
and couldn't agree more with you. America is being trashed by gluttony
filled Americans. Their behavior will never end. In my neighborhood in
Maricopa County, AZ (Mesa), there are homes that look like open landfills,
with garbage of every description. When you call the County to complain,
there is never enough personnel to send out to inspect the complaint and
the situation grows worse.
-
- "I have been down to the Arizona Border, from Douglas,
to Nogales, to Yuma and the trash piles left by Illegal Aliens boggles
the mind. It is estimated that just in Arizona, Illegal's alone have deposited
hundreds of millions of pounds of plastic, clothing, shoes, knapsacks,
food containers, human waste and much more over many years. Some of this
debris has been there for so long that it is covered by desert, grass and
undergrowth and is 6 feet high. Washes, once used to channel what little
rain water we get to natural growth areas are no clogged and essentially
useless. If people needed to have a national monument that displays our
lack of guardianship to the land....we could sell postcards all day long,
every day....just to prove that we've been there, seen it and done that.
As always, keep up the good work that you do. Warmest regards, Michael
B. Douglas, AZ
-
- "Sir - regarding your commentary on roadside trash,
I returned from Germany after seven years, in late '89, to my house in
Fayetteville, N.C. After living in the very clean Bavarian countryside
for so many years, I had forgotten what a trash heap Fayetteville was.
I was appalled and saddened as my wife and I drove back to our house.
The roadside was littered with beer bottles and cans, McDonald's bags and
like items. Every few months some lady would write a letter to the local
newspaper lamenting the trashy roadsides. I felt like writing a letter
in reply to inform people that the appearance of a neighborhood, town or
city was a direct reflection on the quality of the people who live there.
As a Special Forces soldier and later as a civilian, I have worked in sub-Saharan
Africa and I know, all too well, that for Africans, the roadside and countryside
is their trash can. Fayetteville is half minority. To those who might call me
"racist", I am just an engineer and engineers, being applied
scientists, rely on facts and analysis. I have recently moved to Maine.
The area is almost completely European. The trash on the roadside is minimal.
-
- "As you may be aware, a lesson of history is that whenever
an advanced civilization imports primitive peoples into their society,
they have just signed the death warrant for their own civilization. This
is happening all over Europe as well. All empires die and all for the same
reasons. Our empire is dead and the corpse is starting to stink. Perhaps
a Phoenix will rise from the ashes." Frank N. Maine
-
- "Good article and again on target. While out skiing
in the past years I have often see parents and kids tossing their junk
on the ground and on the ski runs. I went up and asked one guy "Hey
why not just put the garbage in the can that is sitting 5 FEET from you
and got a big F U in my face as he skied away. People are lazy slobs and
I am sure their house must be a disaster. I picked up and put it
in the can and tried to set an example. People have lost their sense of
pride and responsibility for themselves and their country. Guess I come
from a different background. My parents would have given me swift
kick in the butt had I done such things. Courtesy and consideration have
been thrown out the window with many in this country. It is time for a
change." Barry M. Chicago, IL
-
- "Good morning Frosty. Your article about trashing
America hit home with me. We live in Branson, MO, which receives about
eight million visitors a year. The amount of trash along the roadways in
our area is appalling. The state and county has a program where minimal
risk prisoners pick up trash along the highways. Three days later one cannot
even tell the trash has been picked up. Just last week the state was completing
the final mowing of the right of ways. The amount of paper trash thrown
by the mowers multiplied. What is our great country coming to? Is there
no pride anymore?" Glen A. MO
- "I recently moved to Vicino, Napoli, Italy and talk
about trash, OMG. The Italiano mafia controls the trash pickup around here
and it is a total mess.
-
- "Now I live in a beach bungalow north east of Napoli
and I go out at least every other day and pick up at least two big trash
bags each round and I have only gotten 50 yards in either direction. To
aid my activities I built a sort of wheel barrow (that will roll on sand)
from trash mostly found on the beach - 2 thirteen inch rimless tires (used
plywood wood for rims), and a blue plastic 50 gal drum someone had cut
in half and left on the beach. It works nicely so I can now carry more
than twice as much.
-
- "The trash on the beach in addition to what you
might expect like soft drink containers, aluminum cans (yep no recycling
here) and tires? Medical waste (three syringes yesterday), and everything
people flush down the toilet like Q-Tips, crotch swatches and everything
else because the stuff going to the outfall is not filtered . . . Ohime!"
- Bjorno da Castel, Volturno, Italia
-
- Their responses show that people do care. I hope to propose
a national law on 10 cent deposit-return law that will give enough financial
incentive to create a 99 percent recycle impact on all plastic, cans, glass
and other containers.
|