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PERFORMANCE PLANET

Human Trash, by Valerie Lunden, MA

Buying A Hybrid car may not be the most immediate solution. We need cheaper easier and quicker fixes for Global Warming, and we need them now.

When walking along the LA River near Marina del Rey a typical sight to behold is the different varieties of birds, (ducks, cranes and egrets) and of course the plants and flowers.

A closer look reveals another not so charming or picturesque view. There is stuff floating in the water and scattered along the banks, this stuff could be described as human trash. The birds swim around this human trash and some even try to eat it. It is horrible to see and a living nightmare when considering the impact on the environment.

A microscope inspection of the trash offers a clue as to how litter is very much a form of unconscious pollution. Most of this trash is what is left over after we have eaten and drunk what is inside food packages and beverage bottles.

Pictures often tell a better story, please take a closer look at the one included with this article, which offers a list of these human trash floaters:

Polystyrene cups
Plastic soda cups
Plastic water and soda bottles
Plastic straws
Potato chip foil and plastic bags
Plastic grocery bags
Soda Cans
Rubber balls and flip flops

Of course, there is no telling what or how much human trash has sunk to the bottom of the river; probably the heavier stuff made of metal and glass. The list appears to have a common theme, everything is human-made and nothing on the list is biodegradable.

There is some relief. The City of Los Angeles has a system of river trash removal, one designed to alleviate the build-up. After a heavy rain, a crew of city employees collect the trash at various collection points along the river. Another enviromentaly positive thing is on most Saturday mornings a group of teenagers collect as many floaters as possible in black bags, then haul the garbage to the dump. What remains uncontrollable is that there is still too much human trash and it continues to float and it continues to pile-up.

It is hard to believe that the human race can be so dirty or irresponsible. Angeleans (people who reside in Los Angeles) are supposedly tidy and clean. As it pertains to our regulatory system, the City of Los Angeles has a host of rules and laws that are all about rubbish. These include hefty fines and elaborate removal systems. Thank goodness the United States with over 300 million litterers is one of the most sophisticated countries in the world when it comes to trash awareness. We expect and pay for, (with tax dollars) to have our streets and rivers clean.

An idea springs to mind that there are saboteurs who litter on purpose? If so, who are they and can they be stopped? Also, where does this floating human trash end up? Let's hope not in the ocean.

Perhaps we could ask why there are not more trash cans on our main streets? Maybe one at every corner, and lets not forget along the river! This might help all this human trash end up where it is supposed to go, in the dump.

A better idea is to just stop buying all that stuff that ends up floating. Perhaps then plastic and polystyrene manufacturers will get the message. They will know that Angeleans really want to live in a cleaner city and a cleaner world. Maybe they they will invent containers made of sensible materials which are safer for our planet and most important, biodegradable.