I really like to travel and although my abilities are somewhat hampered more than they once were my favorite mode is walking. I don't know the exact mileage to date but other than ordinary day to day mobilating, about 7,000 miles were planned hikes. Estimates for average mileage of walking in one's lifetime can be anywhere from 80,000 to 500,000 miles. Consider that a billion humans walk an average of 3.6 miles per day simply to get water to survive. That's a point to ponder when you reach for that Dasani, Perrier or Evian next time.
Whether hiking or daily walking there is not a place that I've seen yet that doesn't have the remains of human garbage along its path. I call the beach, God's Ashtray because trillions of cigarette butts are buried there. It's so wonderful to see a soda can or bottle in the flow of a mountain spring while hiking! Then there's the neighborhood, strewn with McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King trash bags almost daily. It's disgusting! My favorite items are the little alcohol bottles found in nearly every clump of bushes along our sidewalks. As if the alcohol problem in itself isn't enough for families to deal with. Don't even get me started on persons who do not pick up after their animals?
Everywhere I go I consider as my home and there's no beauty in garbage that I am aware of so I pick it up. What do I use to do that? The gozillion or so plastic bags that permeate the landscape. How am I able to accomplish this? I actually use my hands, bend over, and place it into the bag. I may also use tongs if it's really nasty stuff. Why do I bother with this activity? Because it makes me feel better and shows respect for where I am and live. What is RESPECT? Its meaning may be lost to many however I will end this post with the definition here:
RESPECT : a feeling or understanding that someone or something is important or serious enough to warrant that its treatment is addressed appropriately.
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