Don't Litter My Lake With Your Butts

[cleanaturalady]

 I just got back from a vacation at a beautiful lake - A Texas State park.  This lake is a man made lake that has only been around for about 20 years. It has wooded areas surrounding the lake with cabins nestled in to the shady areas all around.

In the early mornings you can sit out by the lake and listen to the peaceful sounds of nature - the lapping water, the cicadas in the tree, the birds talking to each other nearby.  One morning I could hear a woodpecker pecking away in a tree overhead.

One can tell that the people who envisioned and built this lake took great pains to make the cabin areas unobtrusive and to maintain as much of the natural beauty of the area as possible.  After all this area was home to myriad plant and animal life before people moved in and decided to build a lake for human use.

This is the second year my family has vacationed at this lake.  The men/boy folk love to fish and swim while my daughter and I loll away the hours in the cool comfort of the cabin or sitting in chairs watching the placidity of the lake.  To my mind this lake is the only place to go with a family of six and really feel like everyone had a relaxing, fun filled vacation.  I want to be able to go back for years to come and enjoy the beauty and peacefulness of the place.

To my utter dismay, when we arrived this week, I found not the lovely, pristine camp ground that I had remembered from last year.  Yes, the lake was still magnificent, the cabins themselves where well maintained and clean, but on my walk from the cabin to the lake, I noticed that cigarette butts literally littering every square foot of space between the lake and the cabin.  The butts were mostly fresh so, I feel pretty sure it was the people who stayed in the cabin right before us.

Strange, hippie environmentalist that I am, I staged a cleanup.  Armed with a trash bag and some BBQ tongs, I set about my task of de-butting the area.  I enlisted the help of my two youngest (the other two where otherwise occupied at the time).  We picked up butts for about two hours.  My husband came by and jokingly said. "There's mom, saving the environment one cigarette butt at a time."

Yep, that is exactly what I was doing - preserving things to the best of my ability and if it means one cigarette but at a time, then so be it.  Among the butts we also found beer bottle tops, can tabs, odd bits of plastic and glass along with some paper silly string and balloon remnants that must have been used in the 4th of July revelry last weekend.

The process made me sad and disgusted.  It never ceases to amaze me that people are so careless and thoughtless about their impact on the world around them.  Cigarette butts are not biodegradable.  The next heavy rain/wind that blew through (which happened the next day, by the way) would sweep all of that litter straight into the lake where it would contaminate the water way, making it inhospitable to  the plant and animal life that was so painstakingly thought out and built not so long ago.

Invading the home of these plants and animals and polluting it is not okay.  Most people would not go into the home of a friend and flick their cigarette butts on the floor of their friend's living room.  So, why do so many not think twice about doing this same thing in the home of plants and animals?

I showed my bag of litter to the park rangers when we were checking out, just so they would know.  There are NO LITTERING signs posted all over the place in the nature reserve park, but there is nothing that says something specifically about cigarette butts being litter.  One would think it is common sense, but apparently not.

Just to give you an idea of the beauty of the area and the idiocy of people.  Here are some pictures of the lake and also the bag of crap I collected.  I shouldn't have to spend two hours of my vacation time picking up after clueless nincompoops, but I did it willingly because I care.  I hope I am not the only one who does or the earth is in a heap of trouble.

This a picture of the lake from our deck.  All the trash we picked up was in this area surrounding our cabin and by the lake.

© KDV 2009

This is the bag of litter we picked up. Eeewww.

 

[Guinhyvar]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 4:09 PM

People are just... dumb. Dumb and lazy. Good for you, Kimberly, for picking them up. Mother Earth thanks you, and so do the next people who stay there!

You're awesome.

On another note, in your title, is the "Butt" supposed to be plural or am I just not getting it?

[Guinhyvar]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 4:10 PM

Haha you changed right when I posted!

[mainemusicmaker]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 4:12 PM

That's just gross....and I'm a smoker.  Maine passed a law this year where smoking at, near, or around state parks/lakes is now against the law :)

[cleanaturalady]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 4:32 PM

Yep, Jenna, I noticed my error in the title and changed it.  Along with a few other typos in the text.  I am tired. :/

 

 

 

 

(Original Poster)

[beanielips]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 4:38 PM

Ha, I saw that you changed the title just as I came to read!  I was in shock.

I don't blame you one bit for being irked or for cleaning it up.  It seems like we always have to pick up after people out in the wilderness!

[evwsquared]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 4:42 PM

You are awesome, Kim!

[RanaAurora]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 4:54 PM

Man, after 10 years of smoking, I can tell you I am NOT that person who for some reason thinks that my butts weren't litter.  OF COURSE THEY ARE! 
I have Rowan programmed to see litter and think it's sad, and that only careless jerks litter and that it hurts the planet.  He and I have taken walks around our neighborhood with our "grabbers" and a trash bag multiple times... and our neighborhood isn't even NICE.  I can't imagine littering somewhere as beautiful as a forested park like that.  Ugh!

[theyareallmine]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 5:01 PM

Excellent post, Kim!!

[BigMommaJesca]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 5:06 PM

When I was in college, a friend of mine was throwing a fit that she got ticketed for littering when "all" she threw out of her car was a cigarette butt.  She honestly didn't consider that littering.  What the hell?

[Rebeccalynn_dj]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 5:18 PM

What did the park rangers say when you checked out and showed them?