The Logic of Littering

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Here’s an interesting news item that explains why I pay an extra 94 cents or so every time I buy a gallon of bottled water. Turns out it’s for a good cause:

California’s Redemption Value program, which funds beach clean ups, anti-littering public awareness campaigns and other environmental programs. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, some believe this fee should be raised so that the state can raise more money to clean up our beaches which are liberally covered with trash — mostly plastics. Raising the fee sounds like a good idea to me along with others presented in the article like getting fast food restaurants to use nonplastic materials, installing trash filters on storm drains and spill-resistant trash cans. But here’s one more: stop littering and maybe we can spend the money on something else.

I really don’t understand people who litter, especially in beautiful places where the behavior is completely out of sync. At what point while you are sitting on the beach with a friend or a loved one enjoying the sunset does your conversation turn from, “Wow, what a wonderful view,” to, “I’m going to chuck my McDonalds food container over the cliff here, would you like me to chuck your beer can?”

— CATHERINE MacRAE HOCKMUTH