The Trash (Part 2)

Maybe I can understand leaving biodegradables to blow and rot. I've seen enough dogs and cows and goats rooting around in the piles to know that perhaps coconuts and banana peels and the ends of vegetables can be sustenance for other needy creatures. And what is not eaten by those lower in the food chain, can then degrade and fertilize the soil. OK, I can go there.

But what about the newspapers, and the plastic bags, and the plastic bottles?

And what about all the sad, dead sandals laying tossed aside at the temples and the tourist attractions?

Perhaps instead of the little slogans painted onto the cans by the well-meaning tourist site managers, there needs to be an all-encompassing nationwide campaign, like the Keep America Beautiful effort from the 70s, and the Don't be a Litterbug campaign from the 60s.

Maybe some good old fashioned programming of school children is called for, turning the kids not into Hitler Youth but instead into Pick Up The Trash Nazis. Maybe one hour a month schools could forgo the math and science, and talk about ecology and pride and community service and how beautiful India could be. Maybe colleges could give special consideration for kids who participate in Pick Up The Trash community service programs.

But who am I to make these suggestions?