For several years, the Village that employs me would have volunteer employees go out to some of the bike paths in the community wearing vests and with gloves and large black plastic bags in honor of Earth Day.
Last year, I went out with the Director of our town's building department, and each of us filled at least two large bags with garbage. Afterwards, the Village would provide pizza and pop to those of us who volunteered.
About three years ago, this practice prompted me to do the same for my own large corner property and, more importantly, the ball field across the street from my home.
One of the things that attracted my wife and me to our house was that it is across the street from an open field. We do not have neighbors across the street from us, which is nice.
Not so nice are the times that teens have congregated late at night, the one summer when local gang members started hanging out (until I got some of them arrested - post for another day), when aspiring golfers launch shots towards our home. My wife and I hate it when softball season is in full swing and people encroach on one or both sides of our driveway, making it nearly impossible for us to get in our out of our driveway. But those are middle class problems.
One of the things about living across from a park is that people litter in it on a daily basis. Sometimes people show up with cases of beer which they enjoy like in the commercials, but they do not always throw the cans or bottles away. People bring fast food for lunch in the park and will toss the wrappers to the ground rather than walk fifty feet to a garbage receptacle, which there are two of in the park.
On garbage or recycle day, when the wind blows as it did last Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, trash and recyclables blow out into the park.
The Park District does mow the park regularly during mowing season, but they will mow right over bottles and wrappers rather than picking them up. Many times, as I walk my Baby through the park after it has been mowed, we happen across flattened and/or shredded garbage throughout the park.
Thus, this is the third consecutive Earth Day that I have taken it upon myself to don some cheap, throw-away gloves and bring out a large black garbage bag which I just filled with garbage from the park and several surrounding properties including my own and several neighbors.
Mostly, I picked up empty bottles of Fireball Whiskey. Eight of them today, to be exact, after picking up the same amount a week ago. The math is easy. Some scumbag drinks this stuff in mini bottles purchased at our neighborhood's ghetto liquor store about three blocks from my home and then tosses the empties in the public right-of-way across the street from my house.
I know it is a "he" and I am pretty sure who it is. He drinks this stuff, tosses the bottles on the ground and assumes that someone else will pick up after him. He's right; I do.
There were many more things in the park including empty fast food wrappers, Chinese food containers and even one small plastic tube that I suspect would test positive for opiates.
Without belaboring the point, it felt good to pick this crap up and throw it away. One old guy who was walking his dog asked me if I was picking up garbage from the park, which I verified. He picked up a wrapper near his dog and handed it to me. He asked where I live and since I am a mensch and a good neighbor, unlike with this blog, I told him my name and pointed to my house.
He thanked me for picking up the trash, and I explained that today is Earth Day and that, although I did not happen across any glass liquor bottles today, I often come across broken bottles in the park and want to make sure that no people or animals hurt themselves on one.
Also, my wife was chatting with our neighbor for a good half hour today as both of them took a break from working in our yards. Our neighbor, an Old Maid if ever there was one, saw me with my gloves on walking through the park picking up garbage, and my wife explained that I was doing so for Earth Day, as well.
I do not do this solely because of a high amount of civic pride or to set an example for my neighbors or even to write about it on this blog. I do it a little bit for all of those reasons, but mostly because it is the right thing to do.
I do not want a kid playing softball in a month (whose parents block our driveway) to run across an empty liquor bottle or a plastic tube that a heroin junkie left in the park. I do not want my dog, or anyone else's, to cut their paws on broken glass.
Lastly, I do not intend on waiting until Earth Day in 2019 to pick the garbage up out of the park across the street from us. It is obvious that nobody else ever will pick any of the garbage up, as I have previously seen the same thing sitting in the field for months at a time.
It is too cliche for me to write that every day should be Earth Day. However, about two months from now I will do the same thing. Nobody will know about it besides me and my wife, our children if they happen to be home at the time, anybody who sees me doing it and, of course, you.
Last year, I went out with the Director of our town's building department, and each of us filled at least two large bags with garbage. Afterwards, the Village would provide pizza and pop to those of us who volunteered.
About three years ago, this practice prompted me to do the same for my own large corner property and, more importantly, the ball field across the street from my home.
One of the things that attracted my wife and me to our house was that it is across the street from an open field. We do not have neighbors across the street from us, which is nice.
Not so nice are the times that teens have congregated late at night, the one summer when local gang members started hanging out (until I got some of them arrested - post for another day), when aspiring golfers launch shots towards our home. My wife and I hate it when softball season is in full swing and people encroach on one or both sides of our driveway, making it nearly impossible for us to get in our out of our driveway. But those are middle class problems.
One of the things about living across from a park is that people litter in it on a daily basis. Sometimes people show up with cases of beer which they enjoy like in the commercials, but they do not always throw the cans or bottles away. People bring fast food for lunch in the park and will toss the wrappers to the ground rather than walk fifty feet to a garbage receptacle, which there are two of in the park.
On garbage or recycle day, when the wind blows as it did last Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, trash and recyclables blow out into the park.
The Park District does mow the park regularly during mowing season, but they will mow right over bottles and wrappers rather than picking them up. Many times, as I walk my Baby through the park after it has been mowed, we happen across flattened and/or shredded garbage throughout the park.
Thus, this is the third consecutive Earth Day that I have taken it upon myself to don some cheap, throw-away gloves and bring out a large black garbage bag which I just filled with garbage from the park and several surrounding properties including my own and several neighbors.
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| The bag of trash that I picked up included eight empty Fireball bottles. |
There were many more things in the park including empty fast food wrappers, Chinese food containers and even one small plastic tube that I suspect would test positive for opiates.
Without belaboring the point, it felt good to pick this crap up and throw it away. One old guy who was walking his dog asked me if I was picking up garbage from the park, which I verified. He picked up a wrapper near his dog and handed it to me. He asked where I live and since I am a mensch and a good neighbor, unlike with this blog, I told him my name and pointed to my house.
He thanked me for picking up the trash, and I explained that today is Earth Day and that, although I did not happen across any glass liquor bottles today, I often come across broken bottles in the park and want to make sure that no people or animals hurt themselves on one.
Also, my wife was chatting with our neighbor for a good half hour today as both of them took a break from working in our yards. Our neighbor, an Old Maid if ever there was one, saw me with my gloves on walking through the park picking up garbage, and my wife explained that I was doing so for Earth Day, as well.
I do not do this solely because of a high amount of civic pride or to set an example for my neighbors or even to write about it on this blog. I do it a little bit for all of those reasons, but mostly because it is the right thing to do.
I do not want a kid playing softball in a month (whose parents block our driveway) to run across an empty liquor bottle or a plastic tube that a heroin junkie left in the park. I do not want my dog, or anyone else's, to cut their paws on broken glass.
Lastly, I do not intend on waiting until Earth Day in 2019 to pick the garbage up out of the park across the street from us. It is obvious that nobody else ever will pick any of the garbage up, as I have previously seen the same thing sitting in the field for months at a time.
It is too cliche for me to write that every day should be Earth Day. However, about two months from now I will do the same thing. Nobody will know about it besides me and my wife, our children if they happen to be home at the time, anybody who sees me doing it and, of course, you.
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