28 Aug Why?

There is one behavior of modern humans even less understandable to me than several others I find puzzling and/or irritating. You can see evidence of it every single day, in practically any location on the planet.  Why oh why do people litter?

The act of dropping trash onto the ground could be, I suppose, rooted in prehistory, a remnant of times when people’s garbage was all essentially biodegradable.  Everything we had, used, or consumed was from nature, and fairly promptly returned to nature when discarded.  There weren’t any trash cans around, unless you can count the fire pit.  And if the offal piled up faster than it could break down, well, we could always move the dwellings to a new spot – there was a lot of room.

But come on!  Things have changed (or haven’t we noticed!)  Not only do we live in a completely different, constructed environment, but the types and amount of our trash have exploded.  Whether walking down a crowded city sidewalk, taking a stroll in a playground, or hiking along a river or mountain trail, leaving behind a candy wrapper, plastic bag, beer can, broken toy, empty chip bag, water bottle, cigarette butt (yes, that’s litter, too) – how can that be anything other than wrong?

Trash spoils the appearance of our surroundings; trash pollutes our waters; trash clogs our sewers; trash spreads germs; trash injures wildlife (and sometimes people).  Yet in all the places I have ever been in the world, there was only one where I never saw litter – Antarctica, the only place with no native human population. 

So what is wrong with people?  Mind you, I know that not everyone litters; what I can’t understand is, why does anyone litter?  Does seeing trash on the ground, or floating in a lake, really not bother them?  Or can they just not see it at all, have they become inured or indifferent to the very concept of litter?  Has laziness, our enormous addiction to convenience, overcome any sense of shared obligation to our shared spaces? And think of kids growing up, seeing litter and littering everywhere – how will they not end up doing exactly the same?

As I said at the beginning, I just don’t understand it; I sure as hell wish I could figure out how to stop it.  “Don’t Mess With Texas?”  Don’t mess with anywhere!