This Land Is Your Land

Yes, the old Woody Guthrie song still rings true! “This land is your land, this land is my land” so why do we insist on making a mess of it?

This past weekend I took my annual trek to Hampton Beach to check out the scenes. It was a beautiful evening to hang out as the day was hot and the late afternoon ocean breezes were cool. We arrived right about the time of day when the daily beach goers were just starting to wrap it up for the day on the beach. As I walked along the small strip of beach all I could think was “What are these people thinking?” I am guessing that most people cleaned up after themselves after their day frolicking in the sun, but others….well, not so much.
 
Strewn across the beach and on the shore were paper plates, bottles and cans, boxes, plastic utensils among the usual cigarette butts and other trash. Just left there…some to float out to sea, some for the sea gulls to pick at. Why? It’s not like there are no trash barrels all over the beach for people to dispose of their items properly. Everywhere you look there is a barrel.  Is it really that much extra effort at the end of a long day basking in the sun to pick up and throw your trash out?
 
Hampton Beach; where people-watching rises to a whole new level.  For me, I stopped for a bit to watch as families were exiting the beach for the day.  I saw some pick up their beach items and clear their trash – kids running over to the barrels to help mom and dad with the cleanup; others picking up their personal belongings and just leaving their trash behind.  Who do they think is cleaning up after them?  Is there a beach maid service I was not made aware of?
 
So let’s see, these people leaving their trash behind are a) not coming back tomorrow so they don’t care; b) are coming back tomorrow but will pick a different, clean spot to claim for the day; c) are expecting the local maid service to come by and clean up after them or d) maybe they left their trash there so they would remember where their spot was so they could go back to the same spot tomorrow?  I am thinking it’s not the last option!
 
When we visit scenic areas and we look out and say “Wow, that is just so beautiful!”, it is not because we are looking out at a beautiful scene marred with trash littered all over the ground, it is because we look out and see the beautiful pristine beach or landscape.
 
Is it just me or do other people like to view all the wonders this state has to offer without looking at the mess left behind by some un-thoughtful, ignorant person who couldn’t bother to take the five seconds to pick up their trash and put it in the waste barrel?
 
It’s summer. When you go out to the beach for the day or out to the woods to take a hike or up to the lake to vacation, please remember to dispose of your trash properly.  We all live on this land.  Some of us would like to keep it clean.