We didn’t ask to be born into a culture that produces so much garbage, but we were. Now, nearly any place you live, if you walk in a public place, you pass litter.
I don’t go out of my way to pick it up, but when I pass litter and it doesn’t take too much effort, I pick some up. I don’t pick up everything. I give myself constraints to make it easier. I generally don’t pick up:
- Things the size of a cigarette butt or smaller
- Absorbent things
- Wet things
- Flat things that are hard to pick up, like sheets of paper
- When no trash cans are near
- If my hands are full
- If I’m in a hurry
With those restrictions, I commonly find myself picking up dozens of pieces per day.
When I see people walk past litter that would easy to pick up and it’s easy to dispose of, I figure they feel as I did for most of my life: I didn’t cause the problem, I don’t want to get dirty, maybe it’s coated in fentanyl, maybe it has germs that will make me sick, maybe it has lead or other poison, etc. Ultimately: Why should I pick it up? I didn’t do it.
I don’t pick up litter for my health or to save the world. It’s more just living by the values that lead me to clean my floor at home, to volunteer, or to give to charity. It connects me with everyday heroes, like the abolitionists who may not have made the history books.
It looks to me like people who don’t pick up litter are missing out. I know most people won’t see things as I do, but I still ask:
Which way of living embodies more love: Picking up litter or walking past it?
I know my answer, but I’m curious everyone else’s. I know most people describe my actions as extreme, but do they seem loving?
There’s no shortage of litter around:
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