Britton Hill
Florida
November 2013
Visit Lakewood Park in Florida. We do when we summit the Sunshine State, by climbing to its high point at 345 feet. We contemplate and celebrate this thrill, and we wander around in the open, grassy area of the park. At the far end of the picnic area, we see this sign.
I love stuff like this. “Put litter in its place.” Litter by definition, is scattered rubbish, trash that has been haphazardly discarded. So if I’m going to put litter in its place, I need to upturn the trash can and spread about the contents.
If I am moved to pick up some litter and place it in the trash can, as is the sign maker’s supposed intention, it will no longer be litter; it will now be trash. The admonition loses its meaning. Shouldn’t they be asking us to change the existential status of this discarded material? Shouldn’t they say, “Convert litter into collected trash”?
You’ve no doubt heard about the Leave No Trace ethic? Simply, LNT (the Leave No Trace Center For Outdoor Ethics) teaches “outdoors responsibility” in order to make things better for the natural world and therefore for us. Y’know, travel and camp on durable surfaces, respect wildlife, be considerate of other visitors and, of course, put litter in its place.
Make it look like a place where the hand of man has never set foot.