Subject: Re: Unbearable futility, etc.
Date: Jul 23 17:08:31 1996
From: Dennis Paulson - dpaulson at mirrors.ups.edu


>Tom wrote:
>
>> What if I ignored the bird, sent $10 to Black Hills
>> Audubon or Mike Waller for Zoo outreach to schools,
>> and picked up trash on the highway for an hour? :)
>>
>> Tom
>
>The $10 donation is fine, but tell me, what is the benefit to wildlife of
>picking up roadside trash? Makes you feel good, right? Makes drivers have
>a more
>aesthetic experience, feel better about their community, OK. But with the
>exception of a few things like six-pack rings and styrofoam, is the litter
>really harming anything?
>
>Or, like wildlife rehab, isn't trash pick-up just another example of a certain
>sector of the population trying to clean up after another (and probably larger)
>sector? And isn't there a danger that people driving past, seeing litter
>picker-uppers at work, will feel more sanguine about tossing out their trash?
>
>Chris Maack

Touche, Chris!

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 206-756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 206-756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416