It made such an impression on me when I was a kid. When I see litter on the side of the road to this day, the image of the man in this video flashes through my mind. It is a reminder, to me anyway, that we can say America is the greatest country on the planet as much as we want. But we still treat it like a Frat House.
I have been to a almost a dozen different countries over the past 10 years, and I can say that out of all of them, the USA has more litter and trash blowing around then the rest. It is a stark reminder that so many in this country treat our environment like it is their own personal trash can. If you don't believe me, the next time you are in the left hand turn lane at a traffic light, look out of your window and notice the mass of cigarette butts piled up along the side of the median.
I took this picture on the way back from the Outer Banks last week. This was an empty lot about 30 miles South of Norfolk, VA. The picture does not clearly show all of the litter that was actually there that day. Its like this almost everywhere you go in this Great Land of Ours. We drove from Maryland to Vancouver, BC last Spring, traveling through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington State. On the way back we drove from Oregon through Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia. By far the cleanest place we saw (no trash or litter blowing around) was British Columbia.
I thought after seeing that commercial back in the 70's, that it would have the same effect on everyone else that it did me. We are poisoning our environment with plastics, volatile organic compounds (VOC), chemicals and the like. It gets into the water, the soil and eventually back into our bodies. It affects water quality, soil quality and air quality.
I hate to sound preachy, but why do we think we don't have to pick up after ourselves? Isn't the United States supposed to be a world leader? Do we really want to be a nation of slobs, tossing around our crap like we still live at home with our parents, hoping that someone else will come take care of it? The rest of the world sees how we use up so many resources and just toss the waste where we stand. What kind of example does that set?
Time to walk the walk, America. If you really want this country to be the Greatest Country in the World, stop poisoning the very environment that we need to survive and thrive. Ensure a better future for your children. The tipping point is closer then you think.
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