Bonnie Bing: Your Trash, Your Responsibility. Don’t litter.

Raise your hand if you’re a litterbug. Now make a fist with that hand and drop it on the top your head. People who litter deserve a thump on the head.

At first I thought it was my imagination but then a friend of mine mentioned it. There is more litter in the streets and parks and parking lots than we’ve seen in a while.

Even if there’s not actually an increase, it still needs to stop. We live on a busy street so our driveway, especially on weekends, is a dumping ground for not only beer bottles and cans, but fast food sacks. Do we throw stuff in your yard and on your drive? No.

I was following a car with two teenagers in it. The passenger opened her door and emptied liquid out of a cup. I was happy to see she didn’t just drop the cup in the street. But then she unwrapped a candy bar and threw the wrapper out the window. Grrrrrrrr. Liquid is one thing. Paper is another.

Our backyard goes down to the river. Well, yes, you can imagine what goes floating by besides the kayaks, canoes, shells and paddle boards. Those aren’t the people throwing stuff overboard. They respect the river. Others don’t.

Three weeks ago saw lumpy, foamy stuff in the river. Someone downstream decided to dump whatever it was in the river and it floated close to the bank and stopped in some limbs. People! People! The big and little Arkansas rivers are not waste dumps. That includes grass clippings which make the water look like it’s covered in moss.

My near obsession regarding litter bugs started in 9th grade when my boyfriend threw a gum wrapper out the car window. His mother shamed him and her words stuck with me.

At the grocery store recently I stepped out of my car into a big pile of cigarette butts and ashes, a few gum wrappers and a wad of gum. The person who parked there before me deserves a flat tire. Even better, four of them.

Our granddaughters have heard me talk harshly (they probably consider it preaching) about people who think others should clean up after them. I’m sure these girls don’t litter, but when Ashley was in college I got in her car and I realized I should have extended the sermon a bit further.

“I know it’s a mess,” she said, “But I didn’t litter.” I think she used the description of her car having “self-contained litter.” That was right before I unearthed a three-week old hamburger.

Yes, there are bigger problems than littering in today’s world, very big. But let’s not forget the smaller ones. Starting with: Your Trash, Your Responsibility.