Cleaning up

NOTE: I will be continuing my posts on our methods of measuring time, but wanted to write on a different topic first. I will probably be doing that during my entire "Nature of Time" series.

Many years ago, probably before I was even a teenager, my brothers and I used to pick up trash along the roadside between the farm and town, almost a two mile stretch. This is what I recall of the practice (this is how I remember it, but I was young enough that my memory may not be completely accurate, and the time frame is severely condensed).

It started out simple enough: Occasionally, when we walked to town or back, we would pick up a few items of trash and then throw them in the first trash bin that we found. Then, we started carrying trash bags and filled them as we went on the occasions when we did it. It got to the point that we got thorough enough that we would collect more trash than we could carry, so we would take extra bags with us, and set the filled bags along the side of the road as we went. My father would then come along in the pickup and collect the bags, and then we would take them to the local dump.

At some point, more people in town became involved in the project, starting to do the same thing of collecting trash along the side of the road in an annual clean-up of the town.

Newly returned to living in my hometown, I don't see that happening these days. My wife and I walked into town a few days ago, and did a second walk in a loop around some of the local roads (about four miles for each walk), and there were discards everywhere. It looked like someone used one particular stretch of the road on a regular basis to discard their Bud Light empties — we picked up what we could carry, but it wasn't much compared to what was out there (at least a case's worth on that one stretch).

Part of being a Druid is stewardship of the Earth, caring for it, maintaining it. There are many ways to do that, but a simple one is to pick up litter along the roadside wherever you might find it. It's a dirty job, no doubt of that. And you don't have to be a Druid to do it. You can even get exercise at the same time. ;-)

So, I have in mind to start the process all over again, picking up litter, starting with our neighborhood and the local roads, and hopefully inspiring others in town to do the same. I've already broached the subject to two ladies who run the local hardware store, and they say that they're very interesting in participating. I will also see if there are members of our local Grove who would like to participate.

Disposing of the trash will be a little more complicated — the town now charges to dispose of trash ($2 USD per 45 lb bag). But I think the small financial investment will be worth it. Plus I think that we can redeem some of the beer cans and soda cans to offset some of the disposal costs.

When enough of the snow is off the ground, we can start the work.