Recycle

The other day when I was writing another short story for all, I was asked whether I could tell one for children’s story.

“Of course I can.” immediately I said. And this is what I told:

What a beautiful bunch you are. I can tell your family cares for you. And I care about you, too. We planted our first garden on land not being cared for. It was the dirtiest landfill of trash you could ever imagine, and it was all I could see. Soil and everything else had been pushed to the very back by a large machine called the excavator. Then, they built each apartment to face either the playground out front, or the abandoned houses and trash heap in the back.

And what a sight it was:
tires all tossed,
broken glass and broken bottles,
fast food packaging torn and spotted!
Soda cans,
and did I mention – dirty diapers!

Did you know that just the presence of litter invites more littering.
And the opposite must be true, too, that no litter invites more no littering.

And did you know that cleaning up litter costs somebody something? We called our first garden, the back 40, because it took many church volunteers many days, and 40 industrial sized garbage bags to clean up the reclaimed land. There is no creativity in littering.

You can be creative and volunteer with your family or Sabbath school class to pick up trash along your road or around your home, and dispose of it properly. Perhaps plant a row of red roses, or a fig tree, or a tomato food crop.

Then, there is a reward for finding and collecting aluminum cans, and there is a greater reward for living on clean, attractive land.

If you have to make trash
don’t throw it out
and if there is trash
please pick it up.
Be the best citizen,
and keep God’s planet beautiful.

~ Stacy Sweeney