Litter-ati

Each time Ben and I walk around South Knoxville picking up garbage, we are inevitably asked, "Why are you doing that?"

"Because we just wanted to be good neighbors," we reply.

Usually, the person asking fails to disguise the note of incredulity in his or her voice.

"Huh," is a typical response.

We can almost see the wheels turning in their minds. Why would you go out and pick up garbage that isn't yours? I mean, especially if you aren't getting paid, or you haven't been forced into it by a court of law. This is typically followed by a polite, "Well, thank you!" Some people watch us for a bit, while others walk quickly around us, fearful that we'll ask them to join our grouchy 2-man crew.

Ben and I decided to start picking up garbage in 2015. We were renting a house in Vestal at the time, which is considered by most to be the roughest part of South Knoxville. Litter was everywhere. Convenience store detritus was more prevalent than wildflowers. When we stumbled on a car door left abandoned in the ditch, I snapped. "This is ridiculous," I fumed, myself littering nearby neighbors' ears with creative curse words. "Let's just pick it up ourselves."

So we did. In July, we set a goal to pick up 50 bags of litter by Labor Day. A well-known local columnist from the Knoxville News Sentinel wrote a story about us. Then, WATE did a story on us, following us along on a pickup.

The clip began with me crushing a crusty can of booze with my grabber. "Ben," I said, "you really have to stop leaving your beer cans out here."

We reached our goal and planned to continue our regular cleanups, until Mom moved back to town. Our free time was instantaneously curtailed, and we lamented our little corner of the world's inevitable return to Trashtown.

Since Mom has stabilized, Ben and I have once again been able to spend some evenings picking up garbage, and we love it. You wouldn't believe how peaceful this exercise is. Plus, there are few activities where you can see an immediate difference after an hour of hard work. It's like doing cardio at 5pm and getting to buy a smaller pant size at 6.

Please know - we are far from the only people cleaning up litter in South Knoxville. In addition to the professional city crew, there is a dedicated city volunteer group that travels around Knoxville picking up trash. They'll even give you free supplies, if you call and ask for them. There is a local South Knoxville business, Good People, who does local monthly cleanups...just because it's the right thing to do. There is a group of nature lovers who meet once a month to clean up the beautiful Fort Dickerson quarry - because it needs it! Plus, there are scores of individual neighbors who share in this never-ending task.

I have some theories why there are so many trash-holes in Tennessee. Part of it is sheer laziness. Part of it may be because some people weren't taught any better, or perhaps they feel hopelessness in their own situations and it is expressed by their actions. And no doubt, part of it is due to some people who just don't care.

Since the bigger cleanup groups tend to tackle the larger, more public areas, Ben and I try to stick to neighborhood streets and grimy apartment complexes. These places are patrolled much less often. My personal fastest cleanup was filling a garbage bag in less than 10 minutes with nothing but styrofoam gas station soda cups. Residents at a nearby complex's parking lot had created some sort of arbitrary garbage collection point, despite the fact that there was a dumpster 50 feet away. Why? Why was this necessary? It boggles the mind.

This evening, Ben and I chose an apartment building that faces a busy intersection in South Knoxville. A few months ago, there was a fire in the building and several people were displaced. We thought for sure that they would demolish what was left, considering that you can look directly into the destroyed unit and feel certain that it will crumble into itself at any moment.

We were wrong. People still live there. Since I don't know what's going on with the owner, I will refrain from giving my potentially libelous opinion. I'll just say, I hope these families are given more attractive living spaces immediately.

Anyway, Ben and I got to work and picked up a sizeable amount of garbage. We can never get it all, because lawnmowers chew up the larger pieces into a hundred little ones. As usual, we find drug paraphernalia and numerous unsavory items. It's like the World's Grossest Bingo game.

A lone tampon wrapper and multiple cigarette butts. Girl, bless your heart.

Drug paraphernalia

A pair of men's underwear. Somebody's going to be missing those when the weather turns colder.

My bag of garbage, full after only 30 minutes.

Tonight, I relaxed into the peaceful, repetitive motion of collecting the litter with my picker and stuffing it into the bag. It reminded me of the song we sang recently in church. Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is blindness, we will pray for sight. Where there is darkness, we will shine His light.

I liked that idea, that my dollar-store picker could be an instrument of peace. Gathering litter as a teeny, insignificant way to love our neighbors as ourselves? It's both a naive and pompous thought.

As if on cue, a woman called to Ben and asked, "Why are you doing this? Are you just...blessing us?"

With all my heart, I truly hope so, ma'am.

September 26, 2018