Clean Up Billings Day

After Earth Day, I used a free trash bag to gather litter in one block in front of my apartment.

I gathered twenty pounds of trash--pop cans, soft drink cartons, lunch bags, even four used tampons. But, the largest quantity was cigarette butts.

Four years ago, the multi-use street where I live was clean and tidy. Now workers from a new business have turned the street into a convenient ashtray for smoke breaks and a dump for lunch bags and food wrappers

I remember my oldest brother’s story about boot camp in WWII. When he was caught throwing trash on a lawn, he had to cut the grass with manicure scissors and rake it up with his toothbrush, all day in baking hot sun.

I went through boot camp myself and learned how to field strip a cigarette. We had barracks inspections every week.
I remember one recruits swallowing a strand of mop-rag to keep our area clean as the captain strode in to inspect.

I don’t expect that the workers who throw away their garbage in my neighborhood to swallow it when the boss comes by. Nor, can they field strip their smokes because that doesn’t work well on filter tips.

I just wish that they would use a few of those traveler ashtrays that the Earth Day folks gave out, snuff those butts, and discard them in a wastebasket, rather than in my stretch of Billings.

Judith Williams
April 25, 2009