So you walk to raise cash, but walk away from trash

Recently I participated in a 5K walk/run to raise money for a worthy cause. After the event, the sponsors generously provided the partcipants with a lot of great food and drink. People grabbed the few available tables or sat on the ground, enjoying refreshments and socializing. As more people completed the course, they joined the crowd, until the field was filled with several hundred bodies. Soon the trash cans nearest the food tents were full, and the volunteers were kept busy emptying them.

One the perimeter of the field, I also spotted no fewer than three fifty-five gallon drums that very few people were using. These cans were in plain sight of the tables and the shade trees where people were sitting. They were perhaps twenty feet away from the central knot of people, whereas the closer cans were perhaps five to ten feet away.

Most people (the ones who didn't take advantage of the less-used cans in the first place) approached the centrally located cans, and noticing they were overflowing, added their trash to the top anyway, causing it to fall on the ground. The more conscientious of these picked up the trash and looked around for another receptacle that was less full. Most, however, left the trash on the ground, creating more work for the volunteers. (There was yet another category of people: those who left their trash on the tables or the ground where they had sat, not even attempting to dispose of it at all. But that's a whole other story.)

So, those of you at the walk/run who littered, let me get this straight. You finished a 5k walk/run, yet you were too lazy to walk a further twenty feet to dispose of your trash. Really? Hmmm. I think we need a walk/run to raise awareness about littering. Can we count you in?