This photo I took today shows some of my corner of the earth. The unspoiled wilderness of a peaceful beaver pond on a spring day.
Unfortunately a quarter of a mile away the busy highway passes and every foot of ditch shows me that most people have little care for the earth and their fellow humans. Drivng or walking along the ditch it is impossible to go a few feet without encountering someone's garbage that they have thoughtlessly tossed out the window while driving.
40, 50 years ago kids were being preached to "don't be a litterbug" and I certainly got the message. Apparently a lot of people have forgotten that simple message. Or maybe it only applies in the city. They assume that out here in the great outdoors that mother nature will just swallow up and dispose of any garbage they care to throw out their vehicle windows.
Or, "its just farmland, a little garbage won't bother anybody". Well I have news for you, It bothers me!. A lot of that garbage gets blown by the wind onto the fields I work. I could spend hours /days picking up all this garbage but have neither the time or the energy to spare.
Will we ever learn? I really doubt it. I expect I will be harvesting paper cups and plastic bags off the fields for as long as I continue to farm.
Beautiful picture.
ReplyDeleteI remember the days of the "Don't be a Litterbug" They had signs all over and our parents had a bag hung from the dash to put litter in. If it was too big for the bag, it was laid on the floor boards until we got to a garbage can or home.
I believe I still have one of those signs, somewhere in the garage. Got it from a scrap man. I couldn't see throwing it going to scrap.