Thoughts on Garbage

So sorry for not posting lately!!! This post may rant a little, but I hope it gets the point across. So, Green Alternatives has an Adopt-A-Spot in Ghent at Washington Park and Colonial. The deal with an Adopt-A-Spot is that you agree to go out at least 4 times a year and pick up all of the trash that litters your designated area.

I went out yesterday, February 1, on my 3 month anniversary of owning the business. I drive by the area at least once a day when I am heading to the shop and thought...wow...this area has like no trash littering the grass and sidewalks. Um, I was totally wrong. I got out there at 11 am yesterday with my gloves and trash bag ready to pick up trash and was thoroughly surprised at how much garbage was sprinkled all over the area. I must have been living in a dream world thinking that people picked up their own trash, but I was wrong. I'm pretty sure I picked up a dozen beer bottles and about a thousand cigarette butts among other random take out containers, cups, and paper trash.

What kept me going cigarette butt after cigarette butt was the fact that at least three people stopped to tell me thanks for picking up the trash or to ask if I needed help. What a fantastic bunch!!!

What can we do about this? For starters, I think businesses need to have little trash cans outside of their doors for smokers to toss cigarettes. It would at least encourage placing trash in the correct place in lieu of on the ground.

To conclude, I'm proud that Green Alternatives has an Adopt-A-Spot and glad that we can contribute to a cleaner city. It's a rewarding program to be a part of. Kudos Norfolk for keeping this program going year after year.