Our group began with multiple ideas for community service. We were looking into working
with animals, aiding the homeless, and many other ideas for aiding our community. Our
group members were focused on finding a way to aid our community to create the greatest
level of impact. In the end a member of our group spearheaded a campaign to strike the
problem at its source. Our planet in one way or another is the source for every living thing
on its surface. Every day we exploit our planet for our own sake. In this we have all
wronged our planet and owe it a dept that we must begin to repay. Since everything on this
planet was derived from the planet itself, it only made sense that whatever was hurting our
planet was going to hurt us. So we decided that we needed to help our mother earth. Of
course the idea of saving the whole earth was definitely too big of an obstacle. So we
decided to attack a much smaller problem hurting our planet. We would attack litter, it is a
vile poison that is hurting our environment and requires action to defer its negative effects
on society. We needed to find a location that is visited by multiple people, and suffers from
a pollution problem. After research we found that nature parks are visited by thousands of
people each year and are subject to a vast amount of litter that is polluting the landscape.
There are multiple nature parks that can be found across Connecticut, we simply needed to
pick one of these locations. In discussion we found that there are many nature parks in the
surrounding area of New Haven and Hamden. So we came to a consensus that we would
choose one of these locations, and would perform an act to clean this location. For one of
our sources I contacted a member of the Park Rangers service, who is the individuals that
are charged with protecting this countries parks and natural resources. I was told that
every year parks suffer heavy damages due to the litter left by people visiting the parks,
and thus is destroying our environment. Every year the parks of the United States are
destroyed by the individuals who visit them. The costs to maintain and preserve the parks
are funded by the tourists, who exploit the parks and natural resources while littering the
landscape. Litter is responsible for crushing the fertility of land and limiting the growth of
plant life. We wish to extend the life of our nations parks through the cleaning up of litter.
Cracraft and Grifo (1999), address the idea that when the world and its development
began its occupation of humans was very minimal and as time has gone on the human race
continues to grow in vast numbers, which along with other issues “has created a unique situation:
no time in world history has even remotely resembled our present capacity to assault the natural
resources of this planet (p. 287). As an example of the damage being done the Earth, Cracraft
and Grifo (1999), states that, “over 80 percent of the world’s forest ecosystems that existed at the
dawn of agriculture have already been lost and 39 percent of what remains is under threat” (p.
288). As time goes on with no actions being taken to prevent this we will only continue to
destroy our planet, possibly leaving nothing there for us to relish on and live off of. The
environment and conservation of the environment is very significant to our lives and the lives of
the children of the future. Our nation began to realize, according to an article in usatoday.com
back, “In September 1969, at a conference in Seattle, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson announced
that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration concerning the
environment. The Earth Day founder first proposed the nationwide environmental protest to
thrust the environment onto the national agenda” (usatoday). During that period the American
people understood that being an American meant that you had a civic duty to conserve the land
that we had fought for so many years ago in numerous battles. Today that Environment
Revolution, started years ago and continued for many successful following years have in our
opinions started to dim. This issue and movement has over time slipped to the back of American
minds and we feel the need to re-educate, reminded, and update people on how and why
environmental conservation is so imperative to our nation. I think that everyone needs to be
informed and remind of these goals today and possibly even restart the Environmental
Revolution.
Littering does not only affect nature and the environment but also the creatures that inhabit it. It
is important to preserve parks and natural spaces, as animals die every year from trash and waste.
From birds eating and choking on plastic bags to raccoons and other animals getting caught in
discarded soda rings it is crucial that we remain conscious of our waste. Connecticut did not pass
a littering law until 1897 and that law only covered unauthorized disposal of nails, metal and
tires on highways. This was not modified until 108 years later when it was rewritten to include a
ban on littering in parks, beaches, campgrounds, forests, recreational centers, mobile parks,
highways, streets and alleyways. The fine was also increased. (Frisman) This was a great step in
the right direction in terms of helping our planet and animals. By being more specific the law can
be more effective in preventing people from littering. However despite this law according to
Keep America Beautiful Inc., “75% of Americans admit to littering the past 5 years.” By helping
out at White Memorial Park we can show active awareness in the preservation of our
environment and hopefully change people’s attitudes about trash.
It costs 11.1 billion dollars to clean up trash every year. Unfortunately businesses only pay 9.1
billion dollars for litter relief that leaves the rest to nonprofit organizations and schools. This
begets the question why do people litter? We all know how bad it is for the planet and creatures
that inhabit it so why do people litter? Keep America Beautiful Inc. research indicates that it is
one of three reasons. The first being personal choice or people observed littering on purpose
without any moral reprehension. Other people see litter on the ground and think that it is ok
because there is already litter there. The third reason is people taking on the mentality that it is
not their responsibility to pick up or worry about trash on public property. These mindsets and
beliefs are disheartening and sad especially when we see how greatly it impacts the Earth.
“Research and experience have shown that litter is the result of individual behavior—
choosing to litter or being careless in the handling of waste. And once litter is on the ground, it
attracts more litter.” (Keep America Beautiful, Inc., 2006) There are many local organizations
through out Connecticut that are addressing the littering problem that are affecting many
forests and shorelines. Save the Sound, The Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection, Adopt a Highway, and Keep America Clean inc. are just a few popular
organizations that are helping reduce the abundance of litter scattered through out the
state. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (D.E.P) has been very
helpful to our groups project. D.E.P has supplied us with a lot of recourses that will make
our project successful. D.E.P has suggested other local organizations, useful information on
intentional versus unintentional littering, laws on littering, and the importance of keeping
Connecticut clean to higher the quality of life. The next organization that has had great
influence on The Fighting Mongooses project is Save the Sound. For the past 25 years, every
September, the Save the Sound and the International Coastal Clean up come together and
remove nearly 144 million pounds of trash for 300,000 miles of shoreline. Next, Adopt A
Highway has also had an impact in our quest to cleaning up White Memorial State Park.
Adopt A Highway is a non-profit organization group that focuses on the beautification of
highway sections. Whoever adopts a section of the highway is responsible for litter pick up,
planting flowers, and attending to the landscape. We will also have similar duties to fulfill
while volunteering at White Memorial State Park. The last organization that has effected
our decision is Keep America Beautiful Inc., it is the nations largest volunteer based group.
Engaging individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community
environments is their mission statement. One of their focuses is litter prevention. They
target and have studied the costs of Americans littering, who litter and why, how to put a
stop to littering, and what you can do to prevent litter. The Fighting Mongooses’ are looking
to play a role that all these organizations have offered to the environment. We are
promoting litter prevention, spreading the importance of a clean environment, and
encouraging people to take charge to help clean up their community.
Reference:
Cracraft, J., & Grifo, F. T. (1999). The living planet in crisis: Biodiversity science and policy.
New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Russell, D., & Harshbarger, C. (2003). Groundwork for community-based conservation:
Strategies for social research. Walnut Creek, California: Altamira Press.
Frisman P. (2008) "CONNECTICUT'S LITTERING LAW." Connecticut General Assembly.
Web. 5 Apr. 2012. Retrieved from <http://www.cga.ct.gov/2008/rpt/2008-R-0314.htm>.
Keep America Beautiful Inc. (2006) "Litter Prevention." Keep America Beautiful:. Web. 5 Apr.
2012. Retrieved from
<http://www.kab.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Focus_litter_prevention>.
http://www.gdrc.org/uem/eco-tour/envi/one.html April 5, 2012
National Park Rangers Association March 30, 2012
http://www.usatoday.com/marketing/brand_mkt/splash/greeneffort/pages/EarthDayHis
tory.pdf