Wednesday, June 25, 2003

Almost on a daily basis I ride around Lake Peachtree with my kids on the golf cart. One day while on a trip to Hippocket Park my 3-year-old daughter said something about some trash she saw. I too noticed an absurd amount of trash which had collected alongside the cart path. I probably wouldn't have noticed it if my daughter hadn't drawn my attention to it. I guess I have grown accustomed to it, as have most of the citizens, I imagine.

I decided to start a little campaign. With my kids' help I started picking up trash on our frequent golf cart outings, mostly along the cart path system and city parks. Two things surprised me right from the beginning.

First and foremost, our utopian little town is quite trashy. Secondly, only two fellow citizens have made a positive comment to me while I was in the process of picking up trash.

I certainly did not start to pick up trash because I wanted public commendation, but it has been shocking to see literally hundreds of people turn their heads and ignore what I was doing without so much as a wave or a smile.

Now for the fun stuff: Who is to blame? It would be easy to cast the blame on the teenagers. And certainly they deserve a lot of it. My most frequent finds on the paths are hard-pack Camel cigarettes, a teen favorite. Also, high-octane soft drink cans and bottles such as Surge and Mountain Dew are teens' beverages of choice.

One of my most dreaded rides is the path by McIntosh High School which runs between Walt Banks Road and Stevens Entry: It's littered daily with soft drinks, breakfast from fast food locals, and of course the discarded aforementioned cigarette packs for the students getting their last puff before classes start.

What about adults? Do we litter? You bet! Concert attendees also add to the trash problem. Take a ride on the path behind the amphitheater after a weekend of shows. Beer cans and paper plates are strewn about the path from Kelly Drive to Kroger.

One of my favorite adult litterbugs are the ones who attempt to use a trash can from a moving golf cart. They usually make a miscalculation and miss their target. Of course then they keep going saying to themselves, "That's OK, the city workers pick will it up, that is what they are paid for." Oh, come on, we've all done that one.

And finally another one of my favorites, the drivers and passengers who flick their cigarette butts out of their cars. These butts usually end up at our major intersections and get tossed out while the smokers are waiting in traffic.

And now to another major culprit: the dreaded "out of towners." Since I live on Lake Peachtree, I was obviously interested in keeping the lake clean. Hard to do when fisherman and their families come from neighboring counties and pollute the banks with everything from Coke cans to panty hose. Not sure what the later was doing there. Not sure I want to know either.

These spots, mostly hidden from city officials, are disgusting. Not only are these individuals breaking the law by even fishing on Lake Peachtree, but they are also leaving their garbage behind when they leave. Take a ride under the Ga. Highway 54 bridge at Lake Peachtree sometime.

I checked the Peachtree City Police Department's web site. Although there are numerous statistics for traffic offenses and more serious crimes, there are none mentioned for littering. Perhaps our outstanding local department could do more to help in this area. They have a mountain bike patrol as well as a golf cart patrol which can access all of the areas which I do. Are they checking to see if the people fishing are from our town and if they have a valid fishing license?

I realize that the department's manpower is stretched to the limit with the dramatic increase in traffic and calls for service over the past decade, but maybe a little more emphasis could be placed on catching these offenders. After all, it takes the same amount of time to write a speeding citation as it does one for littering.

So who is to blame? Teens, adults, residents, nonresidents? The answer is simpler than the solution, unfortunately. The answer is everyone. That's right, you and me, and your neighbor.

We can all do more to help this problem. It is actually one of the few things that we can control, when you think about it. We can all take a little more time to pick up that piece of trash, or educate our children about responsibility and civic duty, or call the police when a car with an out-of-county tag shows up and its occupants start to fish from our lakes. We can all keep from throwing out that cigarette butt or tossing that can from our golf cart.

In a world with terrorism, diseases, poverty, and war, I guess many will read this and tell me to get a life. In some respects they would be right. But the problem of polluting goes much deeper than just some trash on the side of the path. It is about respect and morals. It is about right from wrong. It is about honesty and integrity. It is about all of the things that make a person good.

While fighting the war on pollution doesn't sound as glamorous as fighting the war on terrorism, it is at least something that all of us can do to make a positive contribution to society.

Rod Burnette

Peachtree City, Ga.