2014), but he just doesn’t know it…

Posted in Project PUT Thoughts by Sing Books with Emily

This morning, driving North on Ohio Street in Arlington, VA, crossing the bridge over 66, I spied a man (trim and fit, maybe late 50’s), heading South, with a walking stick in one hand and two big plastic shopping sacks filled with garbage. As I passed him, he crouched to pick up a flattened plastic water bottle that was sitting right next to the curb. Incidentally, we feel that it is critical to pick up these sorts of littered items because items sitting right next curbs will be quickly sent to the water sewers and out to the ailing Chesapeake Bay as soon as the next rain, so it is very important to recover these items before the rain carries them away, which was exactly what this Brother in PUT Arms was doing when I saw him. I wanted so badly to stop the car, talk to him, and thank him for his service (this is service no less than any other service is service). But there was a car following closely behind me (which is also something that just drives me nuts) and I thought, too, that freaking him out like that might not be nice.

So I’ll send my thank you to the Universe: Thank you dear man who was walking South on Ohio this morning at 9:40, picking up garbage and making this world just a little bit better. Blessings to you! Stay safe and well and keep up the good work!

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21Sep2014

Email to Arlington County Virginia Environmental Services

Posted in Project PUT Thoughts by Sing Books with Emily

This is an email I wrote to Arlington County Environmental Services about our Project PUT Expedition this morning and about the Project PUT effort and philosophy.

We’ll see if we get a response.

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Email, 9/21/2014

Dear Arlington County,
swbcustserv@arlingtonva.us

My daughter Eloise (a 5th grader at Tuckahoe Elementary School) wanted to create a movement to eliminate litter from our environment. The reality is that litter degrades our community and there is zero excuse for it. Litter cannot be justified.

Eloise created,
Project PUT: Pick Up Trash (and put it where it belongs in the recycle or designated trash receptacle)
We get out in the neighborhoods with our PUT Packs and pick up trash.

Since Arlington County does an excellent job of putting trash receptacles in public places and provides ample opportunities to recycle (collection centers and home pick up in the excellent blue bins), we believe littering is an inexcusable social and environmental offence. There is no reason why people cannot properly dispose of their waste, even if they have to keep it with them to dispose of the waste at home.

We think it would be helpful is Arlington County took a stance on this and posted NO LITTERING signs to remind people that a clean beautiful community environment should be a priority for everyone who lives here.

We write a blog about some of our PUT Expeditions and about our thinking on the subject.
Project PUT: Pick Up Trash (and put it where it belongs in the recycle or a designated trash receptacle)
https://projectput.wordpress.com/

For example, we have written:
PROJECT PUT LITTER REFORMATION ACT
https://projectput.wordpress.com/2014/07/21/project-put-litter-reformation-act/

Just today, Eloise and I went on a PUT Expedition in our Westover neighborhood and collected a full bag of littered garbage (most of it would have been easy to recycle) in less than 30 minutes:
https://projectput.wordpress.com/2014/09/21/put-expedition-around-our-westover-neighborhood-in-arlington-va-9212014/

We hope that with our efforts to clean up what we can and a public effort to inspire people to avoid littering to begin with, we can make our community even more prosperous and beautiful.

Thank you,
Emily Gleichenhaus (Arlington, VA)

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Related Posts

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PROJECT PUT LITTER REFORMATION ACT
https://projectput.wordpress.com/2014/07/21/project-put-litter-reformation-act/

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PUT PERCEPTIONS
https://projectput.wordpress.com/put-thoughts/

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PROJECT PUT: PICK UP TRASH, ON PINTEREST
This Pinterest board is a collection of all the graphic images, posters, song sheets and printables from the Project PUT blog:
http://www.pinterest.com/singbooksemily/project-put-pick-up-trash/

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PROJECT PUT PROGRESS AND PERFORMANCE
https://projectput.wordpress.com/put-achievements/

21Sep2014

PUT Expedition Around our Westover Neighborhood in Arlington, VA, 9/21/2014

Posted in Project PUT Thoughts by Sing Books with Emily

Eloise and I weren’t out much more than 30 minutes, but we captured good size PUT haul in that small amount of time. The biggest source of irresponsibly disposed of waste was the baseball diamond behind the Westover Library. There we predictably found many water bottles and Gatorade bottles that folks left on the benches or had thrown on the ground around the benches. These containers are really easy to just take back home and put in the recycle bin. It’s not that complicated or burdensome to do so. The trash can behind home plate was full, but again, the irresponsible litterbugs very easily could have put the garbage in a bag or just in the trunk of their cars and responsibly disposed of their waste in their waste bins at home. Instead, these irresponsible litterbugs chose to throw garbage in the vicinity of the can. Be a good citizen and take it home!!

We also found a large glass liqueur bottle broken in pieces, lying in the grass. Children run in the grass there, playing all kinds of sports, and this broken glass could have badly injured someone who ran on it or fell on it.

Dear Citizens: TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR WASTE. It is irresponsible, selfish, lazy and unkind to neighbors and the environment to improperly dispose of waste you created.

Here are a couple ideas for how to be responsible for your own waste:

Recycle paper, plastic, metal cans and glass.
Throw trash in a designated receptacle. If that receptacle is full, find another one. If you can’t find another one, keep your waste with you until you arrive home.

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Related Posts

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PROJECT PUT LITTER REFORMATION ACT
https://projectput.wordpress.com/2014/07/21/project-put-litter-reformation-act/

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PUT PERCEPTIONS
https://projectput.wordpress.com/put-thoughts/

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PROJECT PUT PIX
https://projectput.wordpress.com/put-pix/