I swear I can sense the sage nod of your head.
Uh, huh…you mutter to yourself, “Colleen’s tricking us with this whole title thing again. She’s going to go on and on and give us her most sincerely compelling reasons as to why we shouldn’t gossip, why celebrity trash talk ‘news’ is a waste of air-space, and to speak only kind words, most especially to ourselves.”
But why would I do that?
It’s quite obvious from the above that you already know all this stuff.
So…surprise!
I’m actually talking about real trash.
I have a proposal for you. If, like me, you find litter in front of your home, on the sidewalk you regularly walk, in your apartment building or anywhere else that it glares up at you…why not clean it up? (I’m not referring to the kinds of garbage piled in the image above, though you’d get extra points for that!)
I know this is a radical thought. We are, after all, the good citizens. We’re the ones who recycle and reuse and reduce. We’re not among the entitled slobs who think it’s perfectly okay to dump their McDonalds cups on the corner.
Besides, aren’t there ‘people’ to do this stuff? And if we pick up after everyone, wouldn’t our actions simply give those people further permission to continue their messy ways?
Maybe…
But just possibly, it might stop that magical tipping point. The tipping point, as so eloquently described by Malcolm Gladwell in the book of the same name, demonstrates that we are more likely to litter if there is already garbage on the street. The social science tells us that existing trash gives us permission to behave the same way.
So try talking trash. Pick a block. Pick a square of sidewalk. Adopt-a-highway. Whatever you do. Stake out some territory where trash is now off-limits.
Pick a time. Monthly. Once a week. Daily.
Do it with a friend. Do it in a team. Do it solo.
You can even do it for only 14-minutes!
I have one caveat. Don’t do it with anger. Do it with love.
Let’s each love and shine up our little part of the world and then…brag about it. Be proud!
Post your best selfie with your trash bag on Facebook. Tweet your trash talk. Phone someone about the jetsam and flotsam you removed from your patch of the world.
We all know the other weird phenomenon that reveals itself in these actions; the more we do for others, the better we feel about ourselves.
Inspire your friends with your trash talk. Most of all, inspire yourself.
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May I suggest a great read: “Plastic Ocean” by Capt. Charles Moore.
Thanks for the suggestion, Catherine. Looking forward to reading it.
I’m especially diligent about picking up plastic bits, no matter how tiny. Plastic poses an incredible risk to wildlife. I was appalled to learn a few years ago that every bit of plastic washes into a sewer anywhere in the world will eventually wend its way to the Great Pacific Garbage Gyre. The danger of microplastics, according to this National Geographic link:
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/?ar_a=1
Oh Lesley. That is so sad. The first line of defense of course, is to reduce our use of plastics altogether. It’s crazy and rather overwhelming, once you really look at the amount of plastic in our daily lives..
This was also explained really well in Ruth Ozeki’s latest novel, A Tale for the Time Being. Great book that included really interesting information on the currents and gyres of our oceans.
All we can do is try to do our best in all this.
Hi Colleen,
I’ve just seen the name of the singer – Eric Bibb. We saw him here about 3 years ago. He played in a small venue not far from where we live.
I love the music, the beat. Mali… sharing a border with Senegal, my country of birth. Who is singing? I love the combination of African music and Mississippi delta. More please!
As for trash, we do our bit, cleaning path and brook not far from where we live and also cleaning a beach in Wales 4 times a year. Yes, litter and plastic in the oceans have become a big problem.
Catherine. You’re a continuing inspiration! I have signed up for the ocean clean-up a couple of times and then always been out of the country. That’s one of the reasons I’ve decided to do this baby-step-style personalized-program of clean up 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the music and now, seeing by your next comment that you not only figured out who it was but that you’ve seen him live…well, that’s pretty cool. I’ve never seen him in person but really enjoy his music. Glad you liked it too. Senegal…that’s one of those place names that makes me wistful and immediately wanting to travel. I just love the way the word rolls off the tongue.