Summer in the city - Stop littering
As spring sends out its
first messengers of the warm season to come, the whole city seems to be on the
lookout for a place just relax and enjoy life. After the snow storms cold of
winter, we all want to recharge our batteries with new energy. What better
place to do this in Salzburg than the riverside.
The Salzach River draws
people of all ages to the waterfront when the weather starts turning warm. The
riverside is a theater for all kinds of strange and unexpected appearances and encounters.
But the amount of people
that migrate to the banks of the Salzach have negative effects on the riverside
as well. I do understand how pleasant it is to get take-out and have a beer on
your lunch break while you soak up the sun, but a lot of people don´t seem to
care about their waste. They don´t seem to feel responsible for disposing of
their empty cans and containers. So the next person that wants to sit down and
enjoy the weather has to first clean the place up. This as happened to me and
my friends repeatedly.
Recently, we wanted to
take our lunch break down by the river to catch up and spend some quality time
with each other. Next to us was a group of people who seemed to have the same
idea. They were having a party with chips and cookies, bottles and cans of
soda, fruits and God knows what else. No big deal. After a while they started packing
up their things: They folded the checkered picnic blanket and neatly placed it
into the yellow and green-striped picnic hamper; they carefully put away their
sunglasses, bottles of sunscreen, newspapers and magazines, trying not to break
or crease anything. It was a pleasure to watch the amount of accuracy with
which everything was put in the hamper, as if every little item had its own
special place.
Having finished the task
of packing up everything, the group left, walking away talking and laughing.
The spot where this cheerful group had spent their time, so careful in putting
away their own things, looked like a deserted encampment. In the middle of the
space they had occupied was in imprint where the blanket had been, a perfect t
square as if someone had drawn it with a ruler. But around the square there
were empty plastic bottles and chips bags, an assortment of fruit remnants and unidentifiable
food waste. My friend and I looked at each other, unsure what to say. After conferring
briefly, we decided to confront the litter bugs and ask them why they would
just leave their trash behind.
Surprised by our
confrontation, they just looked at each other unsure how to respond. One of
them finally said quietly: “that´s not ours; it was here before we got there.”
Then they all scuttled off.
It puzzles me how
someone can just walk away, not caring about how they leave a place that the
public provides for everyone to enjoy. It is not as if there weren´t enough
trash bins along the river. You might have to take a few extra steps to get to
them, but it´s not too far to go to keep the river bank clean.
My friends and I took
our neighbors´ litter and put it in the trash can. We weren´t intending to do
them any favors, just the people who would occupy the same space when we let.
In a beautiful city like Salzburg, everyone deserves a clean place to enjoy the
sun.
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