What have they done to the Earth? (an Earth Day rant)

[livetohike]

What have they done to the Earth?
What have they done to our fair sister?
Ravaged and plundered and ripped her and bit her
Stuck her with knives in the side of the dawn
And tied her with fences
And dragged her down

(excerpted from "When the Music's Over" - Doors)

It was April 1970 - I was a Senior in High School sitting in the auditorium for an assembly on the first Earth Day. The speaker talked about recycling (a fairly new concept), about picking up litter and living responsibly on this planet.I grew up surrounded by patches of woods and small freshwater streams. I was a Brownie and then a Girl Scout. I loved the outdoors and still do. I was a back to nature freak then and guess I still am.

This is the river I live near. It has a wild and scenic river designation and it deserves it.



I jog on the river road four times a week. Once a week, I pick up litter on my route. There's always more litter - beer bottles, cans, cigarette butts, fast food packaging, underwear (yes underwear) and other stuff I pick up with a stick.

It's been a long time since I've seen any anti-littering commercials on TV. The problem hasn't gone away. We live in a mini-tourist area. The season is starting and there will be more litter to pick up along the river and along the frontage of our property and on the gravel road we walk our dogs....
No amount of "keep PA beautiful signs" or "littering fine signs" is stopping it.

Cleaning up litter is such a small thing, but on this Earth day it's something we all can do. Rant off.