This Earth is all of ours but most of us are destroying it rather than keeping in pristine.
The last three days, during my morning walk, I have noticed plastic bags all over the land stuck in cactus and trees; but the plastic bag has become brittle from the wind and sun so as I try to peel it from the plants, it breaks into tiny pieces or I prick myself endlessly on cactus needles.
I continue to pick up the garbage and put it all into my stroller basket to take it home because I put the waste into my recycling bin to be reused; but today's walk was a new path and I passed by a field of wild plants and at least one hundred small empty glass bottles of liquor. I realized this place was a hangout where drunks party and discard their fun into the soil.
So with little room left in my stroller to take home, I decided for now to leave all those little glass bottles to take my son home but come back with gloves, trash bags, and sole determination to pick up all the waste in that field, recycle the bottles, and instead of using the CRV cash back to buy more beer like someone must have before me on this lot, I am going to use the money to take my son out to a fun night of football, friends, food, and moral elevation.
I looked at all those bottles of Corona, vodka, Bacardi, and I thought about the ignorance that had been partying here before me and the selfish remains of their foolishness that were left behind. Why can't we have fun and be responsible at the same time? Then I remembered alcohol destroys any sense and I doubt this group of drinkers arrived with much to begin with.
One of my latest projects is to start my own non-profit with an environmental responsibility sector to go out in vast areas picking up garbage and recycling with a group of volunteers and businesses in the area to make our areas cleaner and let those who help, keep the money from the bottles and cans they pick up and bring to the recycling center. They did the work to pick it all up so they should enjoy a little revenue in return. In this economy, an extra $60 is gas in the tank or a couple bags of groceries to take home.
If you're interested and have a particular area in mind, let me know and we'll work together to get it done. It starts here in the land around my home but doesn't end here.
