When my children were little, we lived in the country. A trip to the local city park was always a treat after a long day shopping or just a surprise reward after a long week on the farm. 

It didn’t matter how old my children were, they enjoyed a trip to play on the swings, monkey bars and a game of tag in the beautiful grass. 

We could spend as much time as the warm summer day allowed. Sometimes we’d even seek shelter under the trees when a thunderstorm came rolling in. 

Every time I mentioned to the kids we were heading to the park that day, each child would scurry and gather their belongings which always included a water bottle, sunscreen, bug spray, random toys to play in the sand with and an empty grocery bag. 

Even though it was a short trip for them, they couldn’t wait until they got to the park. 

The kids would grab their grocery sacks and jump out as soon as we arrived. Each of them would take off in different directions cleaning up the litter left behind by other visitors. It was our way of earning time to play at the park. 

When the children had filled their bags or ran out of trash to gather, they would grab their toys and play for the rest of the time we spent there.

I wish more people in our communities could recognize the importance of this small little gesture and I wish they were more responsible when using public land.
During my lunch break, I can normally be found relaxing at the local park. Sometimes I spend my entire hour walking just to get a break from my desk and with me, I take a grocery bag. 

Some days I find garbage people have been too lackadaisical to toss in the handful of dumpsters surrounding the park. Other days, I find fishing tackle and supplies like hooks and fishing line.

I’m not going to sit here and explain why it is bad for the environment because by now, we know and clearly some people don’t have a care in the world. But there are numerous species of animals which frequent our public spaces. There are multiple occasions where our animals have been injured, trapped, or poisoned at the hands of humans because of the trash and hazardous materials left behind. 

Our job as adults is to teach our children to love and respect nature. What examples are we setting for our children if we just toss our Pepsi can out the window while we are driving? 

It is important to keep our public areas clean and the reasons are pretty simple. Someday, we are all going to leave this great world, handing off all the parks, public recreation areas and other areas of interest to our children and their children. Don’t we want the absolute best for our children and the future generations? Absolutely.