Pop quiz: You鈥檙e biking with a friend, zipping along a semi-rural road, when your buddy pulls a banana from his jersey, peels it with his teeth, and flings the skin into the ditch. What do you say?
a. 鈥淒ude! That鈥檚 littering.鈥
b. 鈥淒ude! What the fuck?鈥
c. Nothing, because I don鈥檛 want to make waves.
d. Nothing, because I don鈥檛 see the problem.
A lot of people, I think, would opt for C聽or D.聽Well, I鈥檓 here to make a case for A.聽Or, if you don鈥檛 shy from strong language, B.聽The old hikers鈥 maxim 鈥淭ake nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints鈥 doesn鈥檛 make an exception for food scraps鈥攁nd it shouldn鈥檛.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 just a banana peel,鈥 I imagine some of you saying. 鈥淚t鈥檚 organic, it鈥檒l decompose!鈥 That鈥檚 a common justification for tossing banana peels, apple cores, and so on out a car window or along a trail. The hypothetical cyclist from our quiz would almost certainly reach for that defense.
It鈥檚 true, technically, that apple cores and banana peels are natural. But natural litter is still litter. And this stuff doesn鈥檛 disappear nearly as fast as you might think. (Incidentally, I have a friend who swears it鈥檚 OK to dispose of his gum by spitting it out on the ground, because鈥攚ait for it鈥斺渋t will decompose.鈥 This friend is wrong. And gross.)
Some folks seem to assume that fruits and vegetables left outside will shrivel, turn black, and disintegrate in a matter of hours, like a time-lapse video from middle school biology. In fact, , leaving plenty of time for animals who shouldn鈥檛 eat it to come along and eat it. Plus, while nature does its thing, that trash鈥攁nd let鈥檚 not mince words, that鈥檚 what it is鈥攊s an eyesore. It鈥檚 also a visual cue to other passers-by that tossing their own trash isn鈥檛 a big deal. In other words: Litter begets litter.
The next time you witness such casual tossage, then, ask the perpetrator: Would you be cool with a stranger flinging a 鈥渘atural鈥 banana peel into your front yard? No? Why, then, do you think it鈥檚 acceptable to chuck one in the woods?聽Probably he鈥檒l say, 鈥淏ecause the woods are huge and I don鈥檛 live there聽and, well鈥︹ OK. He鈥檒l be right.
But, dammit, he鈥檒l also be missing the larger point鈥攆orest for the trees, as it were鈥攚hich is that outdoor spaces constitute a sort of yard聽that belongs to all of us. Can鈥檛 we all agree to do our parts to keep it free of garbage? Even the kind that, eventually, will rot? Are we really so lazy that we can鈥檛 hang on to a lousy apple core until we find a trash can or compost bin? Isn鈥檛 it just as easy to tuck that banana peel back into the jersey pocket whence it came?
These are the questions I would encourage all of us to keep in mind.
By the way: That hypothetical cyclist? I know where he鈥檚 coming from. Back when I was a dedicated roadie, I regularly discarded banana peels along the side of rural roads, using the old 鈥渋t鈥檒l decompose鈥 excuse. Gradually, I wised up鈥攁nd my little corner of the world got a little bit cleaner, a little bit more pleasant.
Naturally.