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Rule # 10. Remember talking trash is ok!
Spitting and littering are not appropriate in any way, ever.
I know, I know this is Toronto , spitting and littering are second nature. But I hope that this two part series on these pastimes can help those lost souls realize the error of their ways.
So I was surfing Flickr the other day and stumbled across a fantastic series of photos called Brand Name Litter taken by Queen West photographer Kevin Steele. This got me to thinking.
Spring is finally here and it's time to do the annual spring clean. For some it's a wonderful experience with trips to hardware stores, lemony-scented cleaners, windows thrown wide open airing out homes after months of being closed up tight in order to keep out the elements and cold! For others it must be a daunting experience full of digging through mountains of garbage and litter that must clearly have piled up in their homes over the winter months. It is the later group that I would like to address, they're the ones that, as soon as weather permits, walk out their front doors and start doing what they have been doing in their own homes all winter . . . littering!
Spring littering has reached almost epidemic proportions, so much so that those special days initially set aside to tidy the winter-litter build-up (something that those who live in cold climates grow to accept) have been re-allocated for spreading word and community awareness that littering is bad!
Well hello, news flash for ya, littering in not just bad, it's appalling, disgusting and totally unacceptable!
When I was a kid I was never sure which was the greater taboo, littering or spitting. I think that littering won out though because I always thought to myself that if it rained, at least spit would wash away!
I had an experience just the other morning as I was heading into the office. I'm on the street car as usual and this guy takes a packet of vinegar out of his pocket, opens it, sucks it back and then throws the package on the floor like the trolley was his own personal garbage can. What is wrong with people? (This may be a bad example because anyone who eats a packet of vinegar for breakfast has to have a few screws loose.)
Oh, and then the other day I was walking my dog and had forgotten to bring along a plastic bag, which is never a good thing. There I was panicking about it the dog got into her little I'm-gonna-poop crouch and I had nothing to scoop the poop with! Instead of standing there like an idiot, I racked my brain as to where the best place to get a plastic bag was? As my logistically-prone mind began to breakdown and analyze the situation the answer went fluttering on by as the wind blew an empty wrapper past me on the street! So I began to scan the bushes and shrubs nearest to me and low and behold there were plastic bags galore! It was sad really. I mean we've all been there, on windy days random litter goes flying up into the air and spirals in what seems like some form of entertainment provided by mother nature, but really it's just trash, someone's laziness and lack of respect for the community and environment around them.
So I've decided that instead of ranting on about litter I'd do something productive for once and provide a list of ten things (courtesy of the City of Toronto) that you, yes YOU, can do help yourself to not litter!
Top 10 litter tips
1. Once you butt out, butt in. Smokers, put your butts in the ashtray and cigarette packs in the bin.
2. You can pop it in the bin. Recycle your pop cans.
3. Roll up to the bin and toss it in. Everyone's drinking coffee on the go - make sure your cup ends up in the bin.
4. Don't make yesterday's news tomorrow's trash. The real news would be if we all recycled our newspapers.
5. Gum shoe blues. Aim for the bin, not the sidewalk.
6. Fast food = fast litter. Put the brakes on fast food litter.
7. Dial "L" for litter. Program your cell's speed dial to 39-CLEAN to report litter hot spots.
8. Everybody needs a pick-me-up. Pledge to pick up one piece of litter daily.
9. Bin there, do that. With thousands of bins out there, just walk those few extra steps.
10. Talking trash is okay. Remind family, friends, kids and colleagues not to litter.
Happy picking!
Non sequitur warning: Remember you are bound to see children randomly darting out onto streets across the city chasing balls and stuff . . . It happens every year!