A Second Bag

When I first began picking up litter in earnest – that is, always picking up at least a discarded can or two on my walks – I had this vague idea I'd find interesting or unusual objects from time to time.

So far, the most unusual thing I've found is a little packet of parmesan cheese.

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Sometimes I Google keywords like "litter" or "trash," just to see what comes up. Recently I found a comment from a woman whose intolerance for litter must be similar to my own. "I can't understand," she wrote, "why people won't stop for fifteen minutes to clean up a littered area."

Well, I can understand why. I gets in the way of a good walk, or a good bike ride.

Today's haul

And that's why I came up with my strategy of picking up at least some litter every time I'm out walking. Usually I pick up a lot more. There's an expression I can't exactly recall – something about leaving a place nicer than the way you found it.

During my walks it's easy to fill a plastic bag with litter. The bags I take are your standard grocery store-style shopping bags. When I fill one, I feel like I've met an obligation.

By the time I'd reached the halfway point of my walk today, the bag was full. I could pass by any further litter with a clean conscience. It would probably just fall back out, anyway.

But wouldn't you know it? I came across a discarded grocery store shopping bag. So I picked it up and used it for the balance of my walk.