While it’s refreshing to see the snow finally melt, we’re also getting a close look at another ugly side of winter: litter.
The road I live on seems to be a magnet for litterbugs.
Maybe it’s the ditches or the off-the-beaten-path location. Out of sight – out of mind, I guess.
Ditches are good targets for bottles and cans. I picked up a few beer cans already that emerged from one snow drift. I even found an empty chocolate milk carton along with the usual eat-on-the-run debris.
Bags from fast food joints are common litter. I guess no one wants the smell of stale fries in their vehicle for too long. So they just toss the bag out the window. Someone will pick it up – in this case, me.
Litterbugs are just plain lazy as well as inconsiderate.
About the only people who benefit from litter are the rare highway and street bottle collectors. Most of them are dirt poor and think nothing of spending hours digging through snow and mud to retrieve containers worth a nickel.
Even they’re getting rare. One lady used to wander through downtown Newport with an old shopping cart picking up cans and bottles. I used to see her on my way to the recycling center and give her a handful of cans. The smile was worth it.
Of course, there’s no bounty for picking up bags, foam cups, diapers and candy wrappers. You do it simply because you don’t want to live near a pigpen.
A few years ago, some of the parks started a strict carry-in, carry-out trash policy. They eliminated trash cans because people were filling them up with household garbage, thus saving themselves a trip to the dump. Of course, it also meant more work for the park employees.
Unfortunately, the plan backfired in a few places. People would just toss their trash as far back in the woods as they could walk. No one would notice the pile until the leaves fell off the trees in autumn.
While we have our share of litterbugs in Maine, some states are even worse, especially those without container deposits. Take a ride on some rural New Hampshire roads this time of year. Beer and soda cans are popping up like crocuses.
I remember when the beverage deposit bill was passed in the Maine Legislature decades ago. Opponents spent a ton of money trying to defeat the bill, warning us that our favorite beverages would disappear from store shelves and millions of dollars in revenue would be lost.
Well, guess what. Our grocery store shelves are packed with every brand imaginable. And many entrepreneurs are making a decent living running redemption centers.
Still, we need to clean up our act – and our roads.
Kids watch grownups toss cigarette butts or coffee cups out the window and think it’s acceptable. So another generation of litterbugs is born. Set a good example. Keep your trash and your empties in the car until you get home.
While I appreciate your occasional contributions to my recycling container, I don’t need the extra nickels. But I do want clean roads.
Mike Lange is a staff writer with the Piscataquis Observer.
