This post may be a little bit more boring than others, but I feel it's far more important than other things I could write about. I apologize if I start to rant at all but this tends to be a very touchy subject for me.
I find it very sad, the amount of litter and garbage you can find on a hike in the woods, in a secluded mountain river or even in our streets and local parks. Generally somebody who litters has some convenient excuse like, "I didn't have a garbage can" or "it will break down eventually." These are silly reasons and poor excuses for being lazy and dirty. As I was picking up garbage yesterday, it was sad to see the results of people's junk. I picked up an oil can that was floating in the water, all around it the water was just filthy and the plants were dead. I found a dead bird that looked like it had choked on a mouthful of something, probably somebody's trash. I found a variety of garbage, everything from candy rappers to car batteries. I even found a bag of trash and some diapers. It was disgusting.
I've mentioned before that the purpose of this blog is to help people appreciate and respect the beauty all around us. I feel that once you've gained a deep respect for nature and our environment the "convenience" of littering becomes a lost habit. Luckily my family growing up was taught to never litter, we would even go out as a family to the local park and pick up garbage on a semi-regular basis. That may sound gross and boring, but it was always good to spend time as a family and it always felt so good to see the results. I wanted to invite anybody reading this to take some time in the next week, or month to go outside and pick up some garbage. Make it a family activity or turn it into a fun date night. The results can be quite satisfying. You don't need to go far out to find garbage, pick up your street or stop by the local park. For those of you who live around the Provo area here in Utah, come out this next Saturday morning at 7:00 to the dike at Utah lake and help me clean it up (drive down center street and turn left right before the bridge that leads into Utah lake marina). I'll have plenty of trash bags, you'll probably want to bring gloves. Spread the message and let's pick up some trash!P.S. I would love to see comments on this post about your litter cleaning experiences! Thanks.
It's sad to see the condition of even our State and national parks.
