Trash Duty

Trash Duty: 

Hello again! For the most recent outdoor activity we went around Elmira and picked up garbage... it was actually pretty insightful. We split up into groups and were assigned areas to go looking for trash among the community. My group started near Clinton St. and then worked our way up a couple blocks. Looking through those side streets I was actually surprised. I expected to find a lot of trash, but at that end of town my bag barely had anything in it. We didn't want to disappoint Maluso with our amount of trash, so we decided to work our way back down... this was where some interesting items were found among the different groups (ex. used condoms, dirty diapers, and (as heard, needles in the past)... my group did not find anything "exciting" like that but my group did happen to come across a dead bird and a lot of empty alcoholic beverages.

The reason why I was so surprised when looking through streets up near Clinton St. was because I was used to the streets near the college. Not that I had ever seen any of the items above among the streets of Elmira, however a decent amount of garbage. I did not understand it at first but then Maluso explained to us that different areas have different regulations. Think about it.

In West Elmira, there was little to no trash, and then in East Elmira there was an abundance. The streets that diid not have a lot of crime had less trash, vise versa the streets that had more crime had dirtier streets. Mauls explained to us that some of the areas have more trash than others because of police build up. After hearing this it made me start thinking about trash in other areas. Before coming here, I was not used to seeing anything like this back home in Marshfield which, is another reason why I think I was so surprised as to what was found. It was a weird experience that almost made me feel dumb thinking that all streets look like the streets I was used to seeing back home but in reality I did (yes, you can call me stupid but to be fare I never had to think about this issue before).

The most interesting experience I had that day (aside from seeing a dead bird on the side of the road) was when I encountered an older woman. I’d say about mid-70’s on one of the side streets near Clinton picking up trash. We had a brief conversation about how she likes to make sure the streets look clean... I did not realize it until we got around East Elmira and someone watched me pick up garbage and asked if I was coming back later. I immediately thought back to that older lady and thought to myself if she can do it why can’t I, or better yet the other person looking for someone to clean his lawn. There is no reason why we can’t all give back and pick up trash when we see it. I know it’s gross but hey, it’s good for the environment.

Sincerely,
(newly cautious about the environment) Tiffany