I recently helped my brothers daughter with her school task about earth awareness and the impact we as the inhabitants have on it. So we build a model of the earth sinking into a pile of rubbish begging for help.
And it got me thinking that if each one of us instead of stepping over a piece of paper or a plastic bag we just take the 2 seconds to stop and pick it up, how much better our environment would be.
It does not take a lot of time to stop and do it. And I am not saying go and clean the street you live in on a daily basis but surely if you happen to walk down the street and see some rubbish lying around to take the time to clear it does not cost anything. Instead you gain by helping your neighborhood look better by just doing your little part.
I teach my kids to clean up after them self and not to throw garbage out on the streets. And I had the best laugh and felt the proudest the one day at the supermarket as we were going in a guy was walking out and "dropped" his slip. And without any thought my son(10 years old) called the guy and said "Sorry sir you accidentally dropped your paper". The look on the guys face was priceless and the look of accomplishment on my son's face was work so much more and made me feel so proud to be his father.
The guys stopped and picked it up and put it in the trash can that was not even two steps from where he dropped the paper.
So my final words is just this, Be proud where you live and do your small part to keep it a nice place for your children to grow up in. A few seconds to walk to the trash can wouldn't kill you.