I’m not trying to be all early-90s “Save the Earth” (remember that? I was in grade school at the time and we were inundated by environmental awareness initiatives; there were even environmental groups started by children (KidsFace or something, I think)), but I’ve noticed a lot of litter around my city (Nashville, TN). The amount of junk in parking lots, streets, and yards sickens me. Does your city/town have a similar problem? Are people littering more again?
I see lots of garbage laying around in the form of ‘free’ newspapers, local yellow pages, and those ‘Red Apple’ circulars that the USPS actually promotes the sending of because it makes them money.
I don’t understand why city governments put up with this kind of trash. It’s not that hard to pass an ordinance making it against the law to distribute unsolicited periodicals, is it? But tons of this crap ends up in our yards, the lakes, the alleys, etc… And all in the name of ‘advertising’. I don’t get it. It’s our tax dollars that pay for cleaning up this crap, but when you complain about it, nothing is done.
Over the past few years, several of the wards around Tokyo have been banning outdoor smoking. Not because of health concerns, but because of all the butts that get dropped all over the sidewalks. Back when only a few wards were doing it, it was easy to see the difference between the sidewalks in wards where it was enforced and those where it wasn’t.
Generally, some neighborhoods here are worse than others, but overall it’s not too bad.
When I lived in Harrisburg (actually in the city) it was depressing to see the amount of trash all over the place.
I moved across the river, not more than 5 miles away, and it’s like another freaking planet. Almost no litter anywhere.
Now, when I drive back over to Harrisburg, I’m even more shocked and saddened by how trashy it is.