by John McDonald
Make an easy New Year’s resolution. It won’t require any money, no extra time, and very little effort. It will, however, further your personal growth and value as a community member. Simply resolve to clean up after yourself.
When shopping, be considerate of others. Too many customers pick up an item, decide against buying it and carelessly put it down anywhere. Most of what’s left of North County’s retail sector is now dominated by discount stores like Dollar Tree, Walmart and Dollar General and this mess soon overwhelms their bare bones staffs. Return merchandise to where it belongs (and this includes not leaving carts in the middle of the parking lot). Instruct your children to do so, encourage adults with you to do so and model for all those who might notice how to do so.
Leaving stores in disarray drives up costs, and thus prices, not just when inventory gets lost in the jumble but when grocery stores have to throw out food someone left on a shelf to thaw. It also frequently drives away shoppers who go to similar stores but in “nicer neighborhoods”. As one social media poster recently wrote about her preferences, “I do live in Florissant but I try to avoid going most places in North County, I like to go further out to shop and eat.”
Additionally, resolve not to make the trash in your car someone else’s mess to clean up. When that litter is strewn along our streets it not only contributes to North County’s image problem but the broken bottles and bony meat scraps are a thoughtless danger to local pets. Judging by the cheap trash, those who throw beer cans, cigar/cigarette wrappers, fast food containers and liquor bottles out their car windows as they drive through our neighborhoods are generally young adults thumbing their noses at society. However, resealing used diapers or re-tying bags of eaten food and leaving them by the curb suggest some drivers believe their littering is excusable if it’s neat. Of course it isn’t, anymore than cleaning out your car in a parking lot and rationalizing that the store’s maintenance staff will dispose of the pile of debris you left.
Most readers of The Neighborhood News are obviously interested in their communities and already make an effort to be responsible for their own messes but if you see yourself in any of these descriptions, step up. It’s also likely that most readers know family members or friends who don’t make that effort. They’re fairly easily spotted by the messes they leave at home or in the yard for someone else to manage. Cleaning up after yourself, expecting your children to do the same and modeling that behavior for other adults will not only contribute to your personal growth but will make North County a better place. It’s an easy win-win.
