Leland Bobbe/Getty Images
READ MORE ABOUT:
The "Make a Bold Green Move" series is all about going the extra mile for green—even if it's not always going to be pretty. Today's suggestion for boldly living a greener life may find you going out of your comfort zone—and into trashy territory.
Try designating one day a week—one day when you'll be out of the house, at least a little—to pick up every piece of garbage that crosses your path. The difficulty of this green move may vary, depending on where you live: well-kept suburb, maybe not so tough; metropolitan New York, potential day-long disaster. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try.
In fact, the inspiration for this post is a neighbor of mine in Brooklyn, who picks up all the trash he comes upon, at least on our street. He's doing this just about every time I see him, and he’s going for all of it—even soggy stuff stuck in the gutters, mashed cigarette butts, and abandoned food packaging. And he makes no big deal of it, either. It just seems like something he feels he should do—he’s never asked anyone else to do the same.
So the least the rest of us can do is one day, right? Picking up trash has some very real eco-advantages—it can help prevent gutters from being clogged and flooding, prevent water contamination, protect the local plant and wildlife, and simply make your neighborhood more aesthetically pleasant.
Let's all give it a go—pick one day to designate to ridding your neighborhood of all the trash you happen to spot. It might not be pretty, or easy, but you'll be doing a big part in greening your neighborhood.
-
- {}
