Embracing Guerilla Stewardship and Trash Talk: Clapp Park

I learned a long time ago that any day can be made better with a little time outside. And we are fortunate to have lots of sunny days around here.

I spend most of my working time inside under fluorescent lights, so I try to experience some outside therapy whenever I can.

This week, some of that outside therapy came in the form of a lunchtime spent at my favorite park. I'm trying to get back into an old habit that I've let slip - trash walking, guerilla garbage gathering. (Going for a walk and picking trash up along the way.) You don't need any real skills. You don't need to gather a bunch of people or start a movement. You just need to get out there and gather up some trash.

Guerilla Lunch-Hour Trash Picker-Upper near the infamous hole in the tree

I was fortunate to get to see the touring version of Whose Line It Anyway? here in Lubbock recently. One thing the comedians did well was research local-to-Lubbock references to work into their improv. There were lots of Buddy Holly, Guns Up, and Patrick Mahomes references. There were also lots of references to disturbing local flora that they had observed - hundreds of plastic bags on the roadside. The comedians (especially Ryan Stiles) were stunned at the amount of trash they saw here. It was a running joke through the evening.

Whose Trash Is It Anyway?

And it stung a little bit.

Yes, I know that I'm not the czar of all blown trash, and I know that Lubbock does not have a reputation for being beautiful, but I am a guy who encourages people to seek out the places here in town where natural beauty can be found. And it stung because it was honest and true - their trash talk was legitimate trash talk.

Yes, Lubbock has a trash problem.

How many pieces of trash can you spot in this pic?

How about this one?

The Whose Line troupe turned out to be a fresh set of eyes pointing out something we are so accustomed to seeing that we don't even notice anymore.

Tool of the trade: Guerilla Picker-Upper on the left

It's given me even more encouragement to go trash walking on a more regular basis. It's not a huge thing and it won't make a great impact, but it's nice to think that someone will see the area and marvel at the beauty rather than shake their head at the mess.

Under where?

Sure, it would be vastly nicer if we just created less trash and chose cleaner ways to live, but that is not the society we choose to be.

Solo sandal

Yes, sir, yes, sir - two bags full!

With our semi-arid climate, we have it a little worse out here. Plastic bags and wrappers blow in the wind and there is little to stop them other than the occasional plant or fence.

It looks like the local kids have been busy building a dam bridge.

 The Lubbock parks with playa lakes get more than their fair share of trash and pollution because they are part of our drainage system. Whenever we get a decent rain, the rainwater carries whatever trash and chemicals happen to be on the roads directly to the parks.

Gratuitous turtle pic

It's amazing how resilient the parks are. Natural beauty abounds in spite of our overwhelmingly negative impact. Even so, the next time you feel like going for a walk, why not pick up a plastic bag and fill it with other plastic bags, bottles, wrappers, and such? Try leaving each place better than you found it. Just a little effort can yield surprising results.

Photogenic log

Who knows? You might find yourself feeling a little better about the state of the world and your role in it. You might find that more hope and more health can be found in your new role as a suburban garbage guerilla. You may even find that making a difference in the world can make a difference in you.  

I like this guy! He's always smiling.

Really photogenic log

I pray you are well and striving to be better. I also pray that your works are a blessing to those around you.

Thanks for joining in!

PCR Sidebar: Trashy Neighborhood Revisited

A photo from There is no "Away"

 

My neighborhood has stepped up trashing itself lately. I have a pretty direct barometer for measuring this - I pick up trash when walking to Yellowhouse, Walter's World, and Uncle Chein's. And the bags have been filling up more quickly. I used to leave the house with one bag. Then I switched to two. Now I've gone to four
.

One of four bags I picked up on my last Saturday walk

 

Most items recur often: straws, plastic drink bottles, plastic liquor bottles, beer cans, energy drink cans, red Solo cups, cigarette cartons, fast food bags, wasteful "free" newspapers that never get picked up, plastic utensils, styrofoam food containers, coupon slicks. Lots of disposable stuff. It gets overwhelming and sometimes depressing. We are trashy, trashy people.

And a great deal of the trash I pick up is not recyclable. At least half of the plastic is grade 5 or 6. Lubbock recycles only grades 1 and 2. We have no provisions for styrofoam recycling. The majority of what I pick up goes into the dumpster. It's begun to feel really futile. (But I have no plans of stopping.) The bottom line is that it's not enough to pick it up - we need to stop making it easy or available to throw down.

A straw and a drink lid outside my office this morning

So, it struck a chord with me this week when Treehugger ran an article about Heather Itzla, a California woman who walks her dogs and picks up trash along the way:

How dog-walking turned into plastic waste activism

The TH article led me to Heather's website, thereisnoaway.net . I felt instant camaraderie with her (and her dogs) and I realized that she had taken things several steps further than I have. Check out all of the different pages on the website. My favorite page is the blog - I know what a picture is worth, but  the words (and the high quality photos) on the blog paint a much more complete picture of Heather's crusade. Please pay particular attention to the straw crusade.

The Americano I had for breakfast - no need to trash or recycle a cup, lid, straw, or stirrer

 

In case you want to learn more about reusable vs. disposable, here is another Treehugger article to add to your reading list:

 

Why reusables are better, even when water is scarce

 

May we all live on a less trashy planet.

 



Personal Carbon Reduction: The Mesquite Hugger Workout Plan

Bike, shoes, lawnmower

 

(With apologies to JG whose dedication to working out impresses me.)

I struggle with gym memberships. I don't like the idea of paying money each month so that I can drive somewhere to burn up all my energy and return home worn out. There is a lot of work to be done around me, and I definitely have a finite amount of energy.

So I work at finding productive ways to burn that energy while not doing further damage to the world around us.

I love time spent riding a bike. My spin class lets me see the world around me and how it changes each day. I love it even more when I can use the bike to replace a car trip. I feel stress behind the wheel. I feel exhilaration behind the handlebar. And I feel rather smug when I ride past a gas station. I feel downright patriotic when I lessen our nation's dependence on foreign oil.

 

The same can be said for walking. When I can run a short errand by walking, I feel better, my budget feels better, and the neighborhood is often a little cleaner. For me, walking the dogs is better therapy than trudging along on a treadmill, and we all sleep better at night.

The little reel mower in the photo has been with me a while, and I like it for the same reasons. Burn more calories and fat while burning less gasoline. And it contributes less to all of the suburban noise. Admittedly, it leaves an uncut blade of grass here and there, but perfection has never been a personal trademark for me. (It is funny how often my neighbors feel sorry for me when they see my gas-less mower and offer to loan me their machines.)

I look forward to a day when my family can avoid consuming fossil fuels altogether and when the health monitor at work will quit telling me that I am obese. We are getting closer to both, but not as quickly as I'd like.

How about you? Is there any activity you choose to improve your health, our environment, and your finances?

May you be blessed with health, wealth, and air that is easy to breathe.

Awesome Toronto Anti-Litter Campaign, Confronting Trashy People, etc.

I share an office with Jennifer. Jennifer is generally mild-mannered and polite in most situations. But there is one thing that sets her off like a three-alarm blaze - seeing someone throw litter out of a car window. She has been known to chase offenders down and give the trash back to them. She has been known to bring family reunions to a screeching halt when confronting the issue, and she has been known to get out there with a trash bag to create her own little neighborhood cleanup.

Keep it up, Toronto!

Well, it looks like Jennifer has a kindred spirit or two in Toronto. This article just showed up on Greener Ideal. Enjoy!

May you not live trashily!

Bonus link: Stop Living in a Trashy Neighborhood