Convenient Garbage

When you walk along city streets it is impossible not to notice all of the trash along the road. You get to try to help your dog avoid broken glass while you look at the same garbage day after day.

Among the highest volume of garbage we see are fast food wrappers and cups, pop bottles and cans, energy drink containers, cigarette packs and butts, beer and booze bottles and bus schedules.

Except for the bus schedules I have a solution that would cut down the garbage and maybe stop it altogether.

1.    We need to make it illegal to sell any beverage at a convenience store in a container smaller than say 32 ounces. They are too hard to drink from while walking or driving so they would be less likely to end up along the road.

2.    We need to force the fast food shops to pack their food to go - Family Style - in one bag with the sandwiches stacked on one side and the fries on the other. That way if the food is consumed in the car there will only be one bag to end up on the road instead of 10. The soda should also be served in a large thermos with NO cups. I doubt anyone will bring their own disposable cups just to litter later.

3.     Stop selling filtered cigarettes and instead let smokers buy their own like in the old movies where the chic smokers would have their own. Also allow no packaging for the cigarettes themselves. Let smokers get their own chic cigarette cases - again like the old days. That way there will be no butts or boxes along the road.

4.      Cheap beer, wine and booze should also only be sold in 32 ounce or larger plastic containers so drunk nitwits don't drink while they walk or drive and then throw the container along the road.

5.      Littering should be punishable by the loss of your driver's license for 6 months for a first offense, 1 year for a second and life for a third with community service cleaning the streets and parks in equal time amounts for the offense.

The truth is that I actually think these are reasonable ways to solve this problem. It helps that I don't eat fast food ever, drink soda or energy drinks ever, smoke or drink cheap beer, wine or booze ever.

Remember, it's not whining if you have an actual solution to the problem.

More soon......