What do you all think about this? I think it’s a good thing to clean up litter, even though it does not actually work towards dismantling trash culture.
Will it accomplish anything if I went around each weekend in a spot, putting litter in trash cans that are just going to end up in the ground again anyway? You can’t remove the trash cans or the garbage trucks otherwise, more people will litter.
Curse the creation of synthetic materials! Something has to be done, though.
If I feel moved to do so, I do. Usually, I focus my efforts on areas where I live, where friends live, or where I feel some particular connection (e.g. the wooded area behind my workplace). I do not take on the responsibility of picking up all litter everywhere.
I know that the trash does not “go away” in any meaningful sense. If I do not pick it up, then any toxic substances cause harm now. If I do pick it up and it ends up in a landfill, then they only might cause harm later.
Good for you. I don’t go everywhere either. Rather, there are specific places where I walk frequently where I feel pulled to clean up a mess.
You make a good point. For the sake of rewilding, being attuned to where you are locally and solving issues there is probably more important (and more in your control) than the rest of the world itself. We should not be totally ignorant of global issues, though!
If you feel inspired to do so, I think that picking up trash helps others to see the world as whole and healthy, without the distractions of others’ rubbish. I think such actions help rewild the world to how it was before we were able to afford to abandon our created objects thoughtlessly.
True. However, the downside of that is if everything around us looks nice, we can easily forget that the earth isn’t whole and healthy, but is in fact sickening and dying from what modern civilization is doing. In that respect, it could be a very good thing (to prevent complacency) if everyone had to see the true, naked results of the modern way of life, rather than shuttling it all off to landfills and toxic waste dumps.
I believe that every inch of the earth is sacred ground, and that picking up trash doesn’t “clean” the earth, it just cleans that spot by moving the trash to another place. Thinking about what is best for the land, I’ve concluded that it is slightly better to keep the trash contained in a place that is already contaminated with it (a landfill) rather than having it dispersed over the landscape and affecting wide swaths of it (although at a MUCH lower level). I think the difference is pretty slight, however.
The whole concept of “waste”, of “throwing something away”, is fictitious (delusional). There is no “away” on a finite planet, and there is no “waste” in the cycle of life. Everything natural is food for something else. In all of earth’s history, only modern humans have broken the cycle by creating objects and materials that take countless years to break down to the point (essentially, the molecular level) where they can once again become food for the cycle of life.
There was a time when I didn’t pick up trash, and in the city I still rarely do. But when I venture into the woods, I like to pick up trash just at least to keep those places as pristine as possible. I know it’s just going to go to a landfill somewhere else, but it seems right to keep all that stuff together. I still struggle with this one.
[quote=“bereal, post:5, topic:1568”][quote author=MamaLove link=topic=1683.msg16285#msg16285 date=1318200060]
If you feel inspired to do so, I think that picking up trash helps others to see the world as whole and healthy, without the distractions of others’ rubbish.
[/quote]
True. However, the downside of that is if everything around us looks nice, we can easily forget that the earth isn’t whole and healthy, but is in fact sickening and dying from what modern civilization is doing. In that respect, it could be a very good thing (to prevent complacency) if everyone had to see the true, naked results of the modern way of life, rather than shuttling it all off to landfills and toxic waste dumps.
I believe that every inch of the earth is sacred ground, and that picking up trash doesn’t “clean” the earth, it just cleans that spot by moving the trash to another place. Thinking about what is best for the land, I’ve concluded that it is slightly better to keep the trash contained in a place that is already contaminated with it (a landfill) rather than having it dispersed over the landscape and affecting wide swaths of it (although at a MUCH lower level). I think the difference is pretty slight, however.
The whole concept of “waste”, of “throwing something away”, is fictitious (delusional). There is no “away” on a finite planet, and there is no “waste” in the cycle of life. Everything natural is food for something else. In all of earth’s history, only modern humans have broken the cycle by creating objects and materials that take countless years to break down to the point (essentially, the molecular level) where they can once again become food for the cycle of life.[/quote]
You make some great points I hadn’t thought of. Upon reflection, it makes a lot of sense for people to have to see the damage that’s being done. Now that you mention it, I am reminded of the tactic used by logging companies in Mendocino County, who left a veil of standing trees along the roads to hide the huge tracts of decimated forest. We definitely should not hide the results of human destruction.
On the other hand, it’s also good for people to get a chance to see the inspiring beauty of an untrashed wilderness. Hopefully we’d have some of both, to give people the chance to make their choice.
For me, when I’m out hiking and enjoying the stream, the birds, the smell of humus, the sun filtering through the trees, it just feels profoundly disrespectful to leave any trash I encounter. I feel compelled to remove it. My own personal neurosis, I guess! 
Not just your neurosis, Mama Love.
I enjoy some tobacco under a poor, civilised-restrained tree in the office complex where I work, every day.
And every day, after greeting the tree and bestowing a stream of smoke upon it, I look at the litter of dog ends, bubble gum and plastic which humans have thrown down around my arboreal friend. This, although there is a bin less than a metre away.
When I have finished my smoke and my visit, I usually pick up the litter.
[quote=“Aquila ka Hecate, post:8, topic:1568”][quote author=MamaLove link=topic=1683.msg16330#msg16330 date=1318875660]
…For me, when I’m out hiking and enjoying the stream, the birds, the smell of humus, the sun filtering through the trees, it just feels profoundly disrespectful to leave any trash I encounter. I feel compelled to remove it. My own personal neurosis, I guess!
[/quote]
Not just your neurosis, Mama Love.
I enjoy some tobacco under a poor, civilised-restrained tree in the office complex where I work, every day.
And every day, after greeting the tree and bestowing a stream of smoke upon it, I look at the litter of dog ends, bubble gum and plastic which humans have thrown down around my arboreal friend. This, although there is a bin less than a metre away.
When I have finished my smoke and my visit, I usually pick up the litter.[/quote]
Inspiring to know I’m not the only one who befriends trees!
Hm, so many of our relatively wild lands remaining (e.g. national parks) local natives considered sacred. And at least some of these, like Crater Lake, had special rules like no hunting there.
Not sure exactly how that fits in, just thinking debatably some places rightfully earn extra respect and shouldn’t have human trash, especially civilized trash.
Dan, you bring up a good point, that the indigenous cultures of this land do consider certain places to be more sacred than others, and that deserves respect. I would take that even further and consider those places to be off limits to all non-indigenous activity that has any impact on the land. Picking up litter should be the very LEAST white people do to respect their sacred places.