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McCook Gazette
Letter to the Editor

No excuse for litter

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Dear Editor,

This letter to the people who litter. There is a large amount of litter on our highways and there is no excuse for it.

I don't want to hear from some one that says "it keeps the state highway workers employed" and I don't want to hear "well it keeps the people who do community hours towards the law violation they had."

Plain and simple, there is no need to litter and no excuse and it is not only wrong but unlawful. I live on the highway and some tell me "well, that is one of the hazards of living there."

I don't buy that excuse, either. I live facing Highway 6/34, and I can count on, every day, going out to my yard and finding all kinds of litter.

I have picked up empty water bottles, empty beer cans and bottles, whiskey bottles, gin bottles, cigarettes and cigars and empty packs as well as used diapers and Walmart bags of trash and the list goes on and on.

I am sick and tired of picking up trash every time I go out to my yard. My yard may not be "picture perfect" but that does not make it right to throw trash on it.

There was one time I had to put out a fire because someone threw a lit cigarette, and if I was not home I am sure that the fire would have burned my home and then I would be homeless. You think that is funny? Well it isn't to me. My wife and I took a walk on the shoulder of the highway one day, and there was trash for every step I took. This is bad; we are Americans and we should be proud to be one, but how can we, when we turn around and litter everywhere?

Well I hope I have made my point to the ones who litter; just stop it!

Kevin Dunn

Holbrook, Nebraska

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  • Well said. I went along with my son when his Cub Scout troop did their highway clean up recently and am still amazed how many people dispose of trash in that manner. When my kids were still in diapers I was known to harbor a dirty one in the back end of my pickup for a week or two because I would forget to throw it in my trash at home because I did not toss it along side the road as so many others do.

    Maybe you could approach a civic club near where you live to adopt the highway to help patrol it. However, it is still inexcusable to toss trash that way.

    -- Posted by love2liveinmccook on Thu, Oct 6, 2011, at 2:18 PM

  • How lazy does a person have to be to NOT put their trash in a proper receptacle? I have 0 tolerance for lazy people and even less regard for those that care not for those around them.

    Kevin, I'm glad you brought this up. If one is too lazy to throw away the fast food packages, beer bottles and dirty diapers among other things, then perhaps they might find it quite liberating to get out and exercise rather than shove down another Big Mac or throw back a Bud Light in the first place. Furthermore, if you are the one throwing dirty diapers to the ditch / curb, I can honestly say you have no place being a parent to begin with. This is YOUR CHILD'S planet that you are polluting! I have to say it..... HelLO! You're an idiot.

    Unfortunately Kevin, I fear your brilliantly important message will be lost, circulating among those which care as the people doing the littering may not take up reading frequently. Perhaps their lack intellect is the driving force behind their actions. Can't / won't read - leads to can't / won't learn, leads to don't care, which leads to disrespect for life on all levels, which leads to me to roll my eyes in distaste toward the ignorant and lazy people out there. What's worse is that children's personalities are often times a product of their parents.... so the cycle continues with the next generation of lazy and disrespectful people.

    I can say this without fear of hurting anyone's feelings because those that I would have offended are out there shoving down one more package of Twinkies and tossing that clear wrapper to the grassy ditch. Think about that: If the Twinkie has a half life of what? 20 years, wouldn't that mean the wrapper has to be at least that long lived?

    -- Posted by Nick Mercy on Thu, Oct 6, 2011, at 6:30 PM
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