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This Is More Than Litter

Just look at the highway on the northern and eastern sides of our city and tell me why we have so much ugly trash in our ditches and roadsides?  Why?

It looks like hell and it sends one hell of a poor message about who we are in Yakima that we care so little and can't even clean up after ourselves.

From Where Does Roadside Litter Originate?

But Dave, what if all the garbage comes from people just passing through the area?  Or what if it's blown in by the wind?  Why blame us locals?

Well, One- even if it's not our garbage, it was dumped in our front yard and that makes it our responsibility to clean it up.

Two, it's our garbage alright and a new study says so.

First Study Of Its Kind Confirms Trash Source

Researchers from the University of California, Riverside spent a month collecting trash from seven sites across the Inland Empire. They examined its composition, discerned the manufacturers of many items, and thanks to receipts, were also able to determine where the items were purchased. Most trash items end up on streets only a short distance from where someone bought them. In other words, the majority of litter comes from local sources.

This study was the first of its kind to take a detailed look at local litter that determined that we humans are the primary means by which litter moves from stores to streets.

We All Share In The Problem In Some Way

Because people are responsible for the flow of items from stores onto streets, it can be tempting to blame bad behavior for litter. However, the researchers feel individuals, policy makers, and manufacturers must all work together to solve the problem.

One recommendation is to go so far as to ban the items that frequently end up outside because the study also determined that cleaning up litter does not prevent it from happening again.

Are we not better than that?  Do we have to ban what we love, we want, what we buy simply because we act like pigs with the wrappers? Really?   C'mon man.

Sadly, maybe so.

Researchers conclude that a more systematic approach is needed because whatever gets produced eventually gets into the environment as trash.

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