A latter letter on litter
From an email on the neighborhood list
"
I am not sure if there truly is a solution to this problem, but being that we
live a block away from Nebraska, we are always having people walk back and forth
to the convenience stores to buy candy, cokes, etc. The problem is by the time
they reach our house, they just throw it in the yard, street, etc. Recently, we
have had two incidents, the first, the kid threw it in the storm drain. When I
said something, she said it's just the f***ing water drain, and took off.
Today, there were 3 of us standing in my drive when two kids were
walking by (probably 13-15 years old) they were right next to us approx. 15 feet
away and he threw down his candy wrapper. I shouted, "excuse me, you dropped
something." He went back picked it up and began to stare. He kept looking back
staring until he turned the corner and proceeded to throw it in the street
again.
How do you keep these disrespectful, uncivilized pigs from
trashing the neighborhood. Usually, they are kids, but not always. Living on a
corner lot with a stop sign is even worse. I know the city has talked litter
campaign for years, but has never acted. The county came up with one but fizzled
fast. Why can't we have a campaign similar to Texas to train these uneducated
people that litter is not ok. When Tampa was selected as one of the dirtiest
cities in America last year, I thought things might start changing.
Any solutions?"
Perhaps we need to research the best practices on litter and come up with some of our own ideas and present them to the city
Best Practices - Litter
CITY OF CINCINNATI, OHMayor Roxanne Qualls
Public Education and Awareness Programs Are Important Components of Comprehensive "Zero Tolerance Initiative"
"Litter, graffiti, abandoned buildings and vacant lots are breeding grounds for crime. Crack houses take hold on streets and in neighborhoods when long-standing building and health code violations have not been addressed. I am announcing today the Zero Tolerance Initiative. It gives City administrators, neighborhood leaders and residents the tools they need to take back our neighborhoods."
--Excerpt from Mayor Roxanne Qualls' 1994 Zero Tolerance Initiative announcement Zero Tolerance: Phase One (1994-1996)
20 comments:
Where's the tolerance?!!? This neighborhood is going from a place where anyone can throw trash, to one where only a select few can throw trash. This blog used to be a place of tolerance.
/SARACASM
Red Bull in the morning??
OOps, sorry, I thought Red Bull was a type of liquor.
Anony 10:31am
I also live one block off Nebraska only I also live one block from the Alpine. I'll trade your paper for my empty beer cans, mini bottles, lottery tickets, etc. Now compound it with the fact that the bus stop is on my front lawn. So, you can add pudding cups, cookie wrappers, pop-tart wrappers, etc. to the mix. I spend time every single day picking the trash off my front and side lawn. We tried putting out a trash barrell. They stole it! I offered to let them use the trash can on my front porch. That, apparently, was too far to walk. It sucks! And, I have no solutions.
Maybe a trash can that is chained or bolted down?
I have the same problem in two S.H. locations...my home, which is one block off Nebaska, a corner lot with a stop sign, and is a street leading from the Publix. I constantly find beer bottles and drink cups and plastic Publix bags on my front lawn. I really don't know if a trash can would work at that location. I'm resigned to always be just one bottle of beer from Publix!
My second problem is at my business on Florida Ave. Daily we have wrappers, cups and more in the parking lot....and don't get me started on cigarette butts!! I put an ashtray out, but it only helps a little.
There is a trash can across the street at the bus stop, but as the previous poster said, it seems too far to walk.
I still occasionally see the signs about fines for littering, but they are few and far between. All the old campaigns of the past are gone....remember "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute"?
At the risk of sounding ageist, being a child of the 50's - 60's, it was part of my upbringing/education to be exposed to icons of correctness; "Hooty Owl", "Smokey the Bear", etc. It just seems to me that the younger people don't get those lessons from the media or at school. So, in my oppinion, it is mostly younger people (under 40) tossing trash freely, without consideration. This sounds like a broad generalization, I know, but when I have seen first-hand trash tossed, it's been a younger person.
Unless some level of government is willing to start an educational media blitz (esp. with kids), and/or law enforcement crackdown, I don't know how this can be curtailed.
I'll disagree with Sherry that it's all kids under 40. When I lived in Da Springs, I saw as many grown folks dropping their trash willy-nilly, and I see it still now that I live in Tampa Heights. 20-30somethings walking a dog or pushing a stroller, groups of guys looking like they just got off a long day of work, teenagers, RESIDENTS.
People toss bottles in my yard and back alley, trash blows down the street into my yard.
I think it's a matter of laziness to some - they just don't think. That can also be pinned on a crap upbringing. Some of it's malicious and I think comes from a lack of respect for the individual, the neighbors and the neighborhood. This too can be pinned back on a crap upbringing.
In my old neighborhood, I'd watch kids just do destructive crap for hours on end. The adults couldn't be bothered to keep an eye on their kids and when you went to tell them then YOU were the bad guy.
This to me isn't a racial issue as several posters on this blog are inclined to cry foul on. The rich kids at UT toss crap out of their car doors in parking lots at the dorms as often as I see beer bottles chucked out the window by good ol' boys and candy wrappers and McDonald's bags tossed by whatever group of teenagers of any ethnicity is passing by.
- David
I live on Central on a corner. I see high school students throw their trash and I have seen students eat chips and place the empty bag in their pocket (I assume to not throw it on the ground). Workers park their cars by the side of my house and leave trash, cigarette butts, etc. Dog owners (not all of them) walk by and have their dogs crap in front of my drive way so I can step on it when I get out of my car. It is people of all ages and colors. The one thing that they all have in common is total disrespect for someone else's property. Interestingly, even though I am very close to Starbucks, not one cup has been tossed on my property. I don't dare say anything for fear something alot worse could happen, like a brick thru my window or my fence spray painted.
It is all in the upbringing. Starts with respect. Of what and who is around you and more importantly, of yourself. My child, a teenager, would no more throw paper and junk out of her car window than she would hurt someone. Some of my childs friends are the same, others don't give a darn. Some are black, some are white, some have money, some, are like us, just getting by. It is not related to any of these things. Parents set the tone. Not so many people "parent" anymore.
I don't mind the dog poop in my yard. It's the dirty diapers in the yard or in front of my house that give me the red ass!!
anon poster re Starbucks trash
You are fortunate enough to live close enough to Starbucks that their $5 coffee cups are still full - go several blocks further away from your house and I am sure thoses cups will start to appear.
LOL...being between two schools, my front yard gets hit by "Little Debbie" every day. I find mostly snack wrappers and those little plastic juice jugs, but once I found an empty condom box. Hmmm. Maybe Smokey the Bear and that "give a hoot" owl got replaced by a sex ed class.
Didn't mean to get into an education debate. Just commenting on the variety of trash being thrown in my yard and responding to an earlier post about hooite the owl. I too think children should be taught life skills like throwing condom boxes in yards responsibly...I'm so confused.
Bungaleeny - Don't worry about it. Some people just have no life and can only start bickering matches online becasue they have no lives.
sex ed classes tells me that regansmash must have pms to take bungaleeny's statement so literally
LOL! Thanks neighbors.
if you mention something in a negative and disturbing way bungaleeny you are opening your comments to debate.. you seemed disturbed.
Seriously? Sorry.
Thanks for the support, Jaded1. Instead of further analysis on my comment, I hops if this discussion continues, it's on the subject of litter. That person's analysis of my comment isn't relevant, and it doesn't bother me. I think the blog owner brings up topics worth discussing, and we should discuss them. :o)
I'm not sure how feasable it would be, but when you see someone throwing trash in front of your yard, pick it up and follow them to their final destination. When you find where they live, find their guardian (if under age) and let them know what happened. Then toss the trash in their yard. If over 18, toss it in their yard in plain view and see how they like it. If they come out to confront you, explain to them that they did the very same thing only moments before. And if all else fails...I say buy a pellet gun with a scope and start shooting when they litter! haha!
Paint ball guns are much more fun.
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