Princess Gail and I spent a bit of our morning with a few other members of our Audubon group cleaning up a part of Bethabara Park. It is the site of the Moravian settlement of the mid 1700’s that would eventually become Winston-Salem. A lot of the old history is preserved here. The park also has plenty of green space, woods and a pond that give birds plenty of habitats, and birders plenty of opportunities. So our group does a quarterly clean-up to help preserve this special place.
It made me mad! I simply cannot put myself into the minds of people who thoughtlessly trash and pollute our world. I cannot conceive of the idea of finishing my beer and throwing the empty can out the car window! It’s just all wrong! I guess there will always be people who make messes, and others who clean them up. This morning, I wasn’t liking mess-making people very much!
Here’s a very short list: beer and soda cans, beer bottles (broken and unbroken,) booze bottles, plastic water bottles, wrappers of all sorts, plastic bags, fast food cups, styrofoam cups, lids, straws, a shoe, a wheel, broken toys, an eyeliner, a perfume bottle, and even a used pregnancy test (one line out of two turned pink.) We filled many garbage bags.
The best part of the morning, besides the simple joy of doing something good, was hearing at least four Wood Thrushes and seeing one. They sing a beautiful song! A fine example of what we are trying to preserve.
In writing this post, as I was googling for images, I stumbled upon this North Carolina gem!
The Swat-a-Litterbug Program was designed by the NCDOT to reduce roadside littering. Clever, funny, green, and successful. I love my state! 🙂
A shoe? I swear it wasn’t me. I can believe people are thoughtless enough to trash an historic park, when you consider the other ways that evil-doers spend their time. The world is a dirty place in more ways than one…
Yes,and it’s too bad. It doesn’t have to be like that. I believe I should leave a place better than I found it, and I live it. It’s not that hard.
I had a big planter outside of my flower shop. While I was inspired to make it beautiful with flowers, patrons of the video shop next door used it as a trash can. A baby diaper was the last thing I expected to find.
It is sad when others do not appreciate beauty by their senseless trash.
A baby diaper! Some people!
Yes, it makes me sad, and mad!
Thanks for doing that!
I’m sure that’s right up your alley, too, Joan. I know how much you love the outdoors!
A neighbor of mine tosses trash out her car window all the time. Praying for the day she gets caught and fined.
…and “swatted!” 🙂
It’s a shame some people don’t feel the need to put their trash in the right place. We’re lucky where I live to have park officials that are there to keep things right.
That’s really good! But people should take care of their own trash, without the need for park officials, don’t you think so?
UGH!! I absolutely HATE litter bugs! GAH!!!
“Hate” is a strong word. — Me too! 🙂
Ack, I hate that too! I used to litter all the time when I was a teenager. For the most part, Minneapolis is a clean, litter-free town. Probably because of groups like yours! But, as I got into my twenties, I started noticing the piles of cigarette butts that would collect near park benches, bus stops, etc. Now, everything gets thrown into a garbage can.
Teenagers get a temporary pass. Doing dumb stuff is part of being a teenager. But you developed a conscience like most of us do. I’m guessing that litterbugs are a minority. The “bad apples.”
it is a ahame that the “human Race’ can be so inconsiderate of Mother Nature as to not want to keep the place where they visit clean.I guess it all boils down to being just plain lazy.
Lazy and inconsiderate. But I’m grateful that most of us Keep America Beautiful!
We have the same inconsiderate folks here. They should be ashamed, but they aren’t. It’s all about them with no thought about anything else. Good for you for cleaning up such a wonderful piece of history.
Have a terrific day. Big hug to you and Princess Gail. 🙂
Yeah, lack of shame and lack of responsibility. I think those antisocial behaviors will eventually come back to haunt them in some way. At least I hope so!
Thanks for being part of the solution. I’m sure it was very hard work and SO frustrating. Good job getting the word out to those who need to read this as well. Take care!
I never mind working hard for something important.
Thanks to you, too, Michelle, for being part of the solution! 🙂
You didn’t really swat one…did ya?
I would have LOVED TO! 🙂