Despite the many receptacles for trash and recyclables on city streets, people insist on shoving bottles and cans into bushes or down sewer grates or just plopping them on top of what in other towns might really be "ornamental" planters.
The sidewalks around Park & Seventh were once gleaming white - like for maybe a couple of days after their installation as part of a streetscape improvement program years ago - but soon bore the proof of residents' disregard as wads of spent chewing gum appeared all over them.
There have been many appeals to the public to show pride in Plainfield by not littering, but obviously there is more work to be done. Some who eat and drink on the street still feel free to discard their leavings at will, oblivious to the way it looks to others.
The Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority empties those trash and recyclable cans at a cost to the ratepayer, namely "shared services" fees. PMUA workers also scour the business districts with brooms and dustpans to get rid of litter on the sidewalks. But no one is likely to take time to pluck trash out of the shrubbery or planters. It is up to the litterer to stop being so careless and to use the proper receptacles.
An official once declared that sales of snacks such as potato chips should be banned in order to prevent the bags from ending up on the street. But it is not the merchant who is to blame, it is the consumers - often schoolchildren - who need to take responsibility.
The next time you see someone toss trash, would you be bold enough to speak up and say something to the litterer? Or should we rely on yet another anti-litter educational campaign? Or one of those do-good clean-up efforts? Until littering becomes just generally unacceptable in Plainfield, we probably will have to keep doing all of the above.
--Bernice
Anti-litter campaigns don't work. A parent giving his kid a meaningful smack on the back of the head the first time she throws a wrapper on the ground works.
ReplyDeleteAnd take a look at that planter: its overflowing with weeds and the "tree" is dead. It IS a garbage can and is being treated as such. That's something that could be fixed if the mayor and her managers would grow a set (metaphorically) and demand that all city employees, plus the PMUA, take responsibility for everything they can see and hear and not just what lands on their desk.
Ownership! It seems no one takes any here in our city.
ReplyDeletejs
The "planter" in the picture contains a dead shrub and is obviously been overtaken by crab grass -- its very appearance looks, well trashy. Maintenance of the planter/s is also paramount to ensuring it doesn't become a welcome place for disposing of trash. Don't know who is responsible for that, but one can only imagine a City that lacks any attention to detail can not get even get a simple thing as planter straight -- sad.
ReplyDeleteDisgusting!!
ReplyDeletei have often wonder whay towns do not enforce litter, illegal parking, etc to get more revenue. There are always rumors the police have cut way back on issuing tickets, but never seen numbers on way or another. I did learn from Alice's Restaurant that being forced to "Pick Up the Litter, Kid" is a lesson well taught.
ReplyDeleteI was considering buying a house near the plainfield high school - a friend said oh no - you will have to deal with the dreaded tide - what? the litter left by school kids on their way to and from school - daily - picking up after yourself should be taught in the home or at least in the schools - there are streets and areas of the city that are always littered and sad to pass thru - another friend picks op trash in Leland Ave Park every day - there is never a day that someone dosent carelessly litter there - whats the cure? street cameras and increaesed fines? move to a town without so many careless slobs?
ReplyDeleteLittle Ceasars needs to change there motto to "garbage, garbage" because those boxes all Over park, seventh, etc. PMUA or city should reach out to them and see if they can remind their customers not to litter, they should share some responsibility to keep our streets clean.
ReplyDeleteA clean area is more difficult to litter. Living in a busy intersection, Park and E. 9th (a block away from the HS) we knew that keeping our corner clean would invite more people to keep it clean. So far it has worked as in the seven years that we have been here we have seen litter reduced to almost zero; this despite the fact that there are no trash cans available in/around our intersection. Pride and the feeling of ownership and belonging is the first step to creating a clean city. Perhaps those business on Park Avenue can be encouraged to take better care of the street planters by those of us who are eager to see a change in the city's landscape.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I must say that HS kids, most of them anyway, are good kids so, please, stop using them as an excuse for those of us who have the power to get the city clean.
Maria Pellum
The trash in the planter is bad enough, but look at all that nasty chewing gum stuck all over the sidewalk around it!!!
ReplyDeleteI've watched people of all races, economic incomes and ages throw litter. In NYC, you can see suited men chuck down their trash.
ReplyDeleteIn Plainfield, I've seen people throw whole bags of trash out of their cars at stop signs.
I think if an area is kept clean, then people are less likely to throw down trash. That means all of us that own property or businesses need to police our area for trash.
It also means saying something to someone when you see them throw trash.
I find it interesting we pay millions in "shared services" for city cleanup -- yet the trash remains. If we're paying this huge premium for cleanup -- why isn't the city clean?