Why I chose to blog on water and trash

Greetings my Fellow Litterer Haters!

My name is Kathy and I am actually writing this blog for a Multi-Media Journalism class. When our Prof asked us to blog on something we have passion about, I panicked. I don't seem to have much passion these days. I asked a friend that knows me pretty well what he thinks I have passion for, and without hesitation, he said, "water and trash". I smiled and said, "that's true."
I am new to blogging, so please bear with me as I struggle to learn a new feat.

What my passion is about is the fact that there is so much litter in this country and I hate it and want it cleaned up. There are some areas that have more than others and some cities that take pride in keeping their towns clean.

My passion, if you will, first got ignited about this subject, in the fourth grade. Our class was shown a series of films on our environment that would change my life forever and become a part of my lifestyle.

The films were about pollution and the environment and how litter affects the fish and wildlife. Being an animal lover, that's what really drew me to be convinced that we must keep our country clean. Growing up in the 60s as a young girl, the movement was really about loving our earth and respecting it by doing our part to keep in clean. People were really starting to get into our planet and taking care of it. It may have been a hippie thing to take care of "Mother Earth" as they called it. For me, it was an awakening of just how much people can contribute to trashing our environment and its negative affects on our water, our animals, and people as a whole.

I have seen many people, as I'm sure most of you have, throw trash out of their cars while driving, flick ashes from their cigarettes, then the whole butt, and of course, people in their parked cars in a parking lot or along a curb in the street, cleaning out their vehicles by disposing their waste in the street.
I absolutely hate this with a passion.

We were also shown films on recycling and how that affects our environment as well. If we recycle then we don't have a bunch of bottles and cans in our lakes and oceans and we keep our country clean and are able to use the product again through the recycling process.

I have been recycling and conserving water and electricity since I was about nine years old. I have always thought that most people take it for granted that we will always have running water, and when we flip on a switch, we will have light.

As a So Cal native, I have seen how it has been quite challenging to keep up with keeping this area clean. Especially with the vast and diverse population growth and with many people not having the same convictions as mine in this area.

Most people have the attitude that "someone else will clean it up," and "that's what they get paid to do."

The graffiti started getting under control when murals were being painted as an effort to keep the random writing off the walls of the streets and where ever else it was found. But it is still a visual nightmare.

I have wanted the governor to appoint me "Water and Trash Commissioner" of the state of California where I would drive around in a special "environmentally friendly" vehicle specifically giving people tickets for littering, in all aspects of the word. I would have other people in my department, assigned to the north, central and south, ensuring our state was litter free and reprimanding those who are non-compliant.

I'm sure I would be not a popular person in the eyes of most that live in this state. But I tell you what, I would surely get us out of debt and bankruptcy with fines and community service work, for what else? Cleaning up other people's trash.

I open this blog up to those of you that are united with me in keeping our country clean and doing our part. I welcome your comments, your constructive and creative thoughts, ideas and ways we might work together to keep our state and other states in this country clean. If we all did our part then there wouldn't be such a mess.
I also welcome any facts you might want to share through posting links on this subject, pictures and videos.

Please no foul language or anger, we don't need emotional pollution and trashy talk, pun intended. It's not about getting emotional, however we can still have passion about something and be constructive in communicating our thoughts and ideas.

Welcome to the blog of creative trouble shooting on how to eliminate the crime of pollution in our state and in our country. Together we can do it!