The Rocket

Issue date: 2/24/06 Section: Opinion

Jen Meyer - Copy Editor

Sometimes I think we just don't take the time to enjoy the little things in life; the sun filtering through the clouds, birds flittering in the treetops, garbage floating gently across the lawn.

Wait. Garbage? Not again.

I don't remember signing up for the Adopt-a-Highway program, but somehow I got sucked into cleaning up after a small portion of rural America. I live along a well-traveled stretch of a major roadway, and when people litter, it inevitably winds up in my yard. Beer bottles, fast food wrappers, assorted pieces of paper and plastics…they've all magically appeared at some time or another. And every time a new treasure arrives, I don my faithful work gloves and pick it up.

I'm beginning to think that maybe there's a garbage fairy living in my area. Apparently, she only makes deliveries two or three times a week, and she thinks my front lawn is a convenient drop-off point. She either flies very quickly, or only comes by in the dark of night, because I can never seem to catch her in mid-delivery. One time, she even left me a brand new, shiny garbage can. She must have decided that I need a storage bin for all my treasures.

Or perhaps it's the infamous litterbug that's leaving its mark on my yard. Litterbugs are like packrats in that they love anonymous trash, but rather than hording their refuse, they scatter it to the four winds.

These litterbugs think the world is their waste basket. So, I've decided what needs to be done. It's time for me to make a statement.

I'm going to collect my garbage for, say, six weeks. Then, I'm going to load it into the back of a pickup truck and have somebody drive me through downtown Slippery Rock. On our journey, I'll be standing in the bed, throwing my garbage everywhere with reckless abandon.

I can see it now. Trash will be flying everywhere, and litterbugs will come scuttling from their houses, rejoicing.

"The gods have smiled upon us!" they will say. "Finally, we can live among piles of garbage without fear of societal retribution!" They will then proceed to roll in the stuff.

Yeah, right.

Granted, it's almost impossible to live in today's society without polluting the earth in some way. Whether we're driving our cars, or buying produce at the grocery store that was grown using unsustainable practices, pollution is often so inundated into our daily activities that we aren't even aware of it. And sometimes, we really just can't help it.

Continued...

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