Day 58 – Visit Your Local Parks

Visit Your Local Parks

Do you know where your local parks are located?  Have you visited them?  Going to a park is a great way to get some exercise and fresh air while reconnecting with nature.  Your local park may be a little grassy area with a bench or it might be a huge wooded area with picnic tables and trails.  If you’re stuck inside all day whether by choice or not, you can lose touch with the environment. 

For me, seeing birds flying around reminds me to care and not spit out chewing gum on the ground.  Seeing an old plastic water bottle in a river reminds me of what happens when people toss trash out their windows from perhaps miles away.  And learning about wildlife and the balance of nature reminds me that I, too, am a part of the cycle.

Take a jaunt over to your local park.  Make a day trip to a state or national park in your area.  You can find parks and vote for your favorite park through the end of August, 2010 by going to this link: http://www.livepositively.com/#/americasparks/vote

Day 42 – Dispose of Gum Properly

Chewing Gum Spots on Paved Sidewalk

The dark spots you see here are from chewing gum.  People spit out their gum and over time if it doesn’t get caught on someone’s shoe, the gum collects dirt and smashes down thus making these dark spots.  As you can see, the trash can is merely steps away.  This is not a hidden spot in a run-down neighborhood.  This is near the front door of the library in a rather nice neighborhood, and these pavers as well as the sidewalk are only a few years old.

Chewing gum is bad for animals and birds in particular.  Birds fly down thinking that the gum is food.  When they peck at it, sometimes the gum gets stuck in their beaks and makes it impossible for them to eat.  Eventually they may die.

So, how do you get the gum off of these brick pavers?  Someone has to go out there with a sharp edge and scrape away.  This is time-consuming, difficult work which for a library during times of budget cuts is not a priority.  In the meantime, these unsightly spots remain.

Remember that gum is trash, too.  It is not going to biodegrade like food.  Please dispose of it properly!