Sunday, I was walking to church (which I have to throw in because I live in Atlanta and don't get to walk anywhere-we are a city of cars) and I noticed gobs/piles of trash everywhere. I did not pick up the trash because I had nowhere to throw this trash. But, I got a trash bad at the church and picked up so much in my 1.3 mile walk home I could hardly carry the bag!
It hit me, this is not something someone dropped by accident. This was all intentionally thrown out the car window. The first thought that came to mind was the Crying Indian! I shared this story with Kim, my co-author, and my sister, Julie and before I could even mention the Crying Indian they BOTH said, "We need the Crying Indian!"
Kim and I watched the Crying Indian on YouTube and I was amazed that one commercial impact a generation so much! I am not sure today this commercial would have the same impact. In the 70's, we seemed to hear a lot more about taking the Native American's land and then seeing this Indian (which I hear was really Italian) shed a tear that we not only took his land but were trashing it! This impacted everyone I know!
I have never thrown any trash out because this mans face with the tear is embedded in my memory forever. I work on-site for a builder and the Hispanic construction workers dump their trash everywhere! I am always picking up after them. I thought before this walk, "The Crying Indian commercial did not air in Mexico!" But, now I see it is not cultural it is generational.
I thank the Keep America Beautiful people for that memory and think it is time for a new campaign!
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If you haven't seen it, yet, I recommend the animated film, "wall-e." While it may strike you as a cute little robot love story, the underlying reason for the cute little robot's existence is the unmanageable pile of rubbish the world's population has created.
There is a rather large "hill" I pass on my commute to my client's offices. The other day, seeing it from a vantage point, I realized that hill wasn't so visible 28 years ago.
Littering is taken lightly by far too many, as evident in the fast food containers and beverage cups tossed with abandon from passing cars, and even gel packets I've seen runners toss aside during our long runs.
Teach your children well. Good habits are learned by example.
August 26, 2008 - 5:53pmThis Comment
I remember seeing this commercial hundreds of times growing up as well as the Woodsy the Owl commercial. All of my childhood friends could probably sing the 'Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute' jingle.
While some people may have not seen those PSAa (like those in your neighborhood who apparently like to dump trash) I'd like to think generally we've come full circle in considering ourselves (humans) in a larger context.
It seems the whole 'green' movement has re-energized the anti-pollution notion to some extent. And while I don't feel that one group -- either culturally or generationally contributes to the issue more than another -- it appears that some large cities are trying to figure it out. I remember reading this story out of Naples earlier this year about how rubbish dumps in the city had been declared full at the end of last year so household waste piled up in the streets. The city was able to clean it up eventually, but as you can read, the odor lingers. My understanding was that the garbage was carted off to Hamburg where it was to be incinerated. The incident magnifies examples of what's going on generally, which is that people could do a better job of cutting down on waste. There also appears to be a need to find out how to handle that waste. For more, check out this this article about the dangers of burning waste.
August 26, 2008 - 8:58amThis Comment