COLUMN: Trailing or Leading: No litterbugs on MYPath

When I was a kid, I remember watching the Smog Monster crawl out of a polluted harbor to terrorize the city. Only Godzilla could defeat this monster and save the day. Where did the Smog Monster come from? It oozed to life from all the trash and chemicals that were dumped by people and companies into the rivers and ocean.

This movie came out in 1971, when throwing bags of trash out of moving cars was frowned upon, but it was still very common. Today wonderful volunteers on road clean-ups still find plenty of garbage to collect, but I remember that it was much worse back then.

Maybe people my age learned that carelessly discarding trash could lead to monsters that were nearly as powerful as Godzilla. Or maybe communities realized that litter should result in heavy fines, which deterred litterbugs. Maybe people finally became fed-up with events like the burning of the Cuyahoga River in Ohio. Whatever the motivation, litter became unacceptable. Yet we still see it.

The book "Garbology: Our Love Affair With Trash" by Edward Humes outlines the history of trash. It has always been one of the top challenges of every community. Did you realize New York City used to let pigs roam the streets to eat people's trash?

We have more sophisticated means of disposal now. But we also have more challenges. Plastic bags used by stores are strong, light and inexpensive, but they are also discarded everywhere. Plastic water bottles are light, convenient and inexpensive, but they are also discarded everywhere. K-cups for single-use coffee machines are inexpensive and convenient, but they are also discarded everywhere. And then, what happens to the plastic that is used to create these strong, light, convenient and inexpensive products? Do they ever go away?

So that brings us to MYPath. Even though public litter is not as common as in the last century, it's certainly not rare. Friends of MYPath has hosted trash pickup days along River Road and collected plenty. The White River always seems to have trash along the shore. As MYPath grows in popularity, discarded trash should be a big problem. Yet it is not.

I give credit for a clean MYPath to the users of MYPath. Every Wednesday morning at 10 a.m., we host a weekly walk. (You are all invited.) We usually see one to three pieces of litter. Not one to three piles. And one of us picks it up to throw away at home. Trash pickup is not the point of this walk, but people pick up trash anyway.

In addition to the weekly walk group, I see individuals on the trail all the time. If I ask them about trash, they say, "Yeah, there was a piece of paper, but I just picked it up." As I have said before, MYPath has the best trail users. When we have volunteer days, we can focus on big jobs like spreading wood chips, clearing fallen branches and removing invasive plants. Trash is not a big issue.

Some people have asked why we don't have any trash cans along the trail or in the parking area. We are following the Indiana State Park policy of carry in/carry out. I think sometimes trash cans actually attract trash from people's homes and cars. Realistically, people who would drop wrappers on the trail wouldn't bother to walk their trash to the next container.

Will you see trash next time you visit MYPath? Maybe, but don't be surprised if you don't. I think people appreciate the community trail as their own. To the MYPath users, thank you for helping keep it clean.

Kyle Hannon is the Project Manager for the MYPath Trail System. He has served in many community development and trail connection roles throughout the state. On many weekends, he serves as an Interpretive Specialist at McCormick's Creek State Park.