U.S. sloppy with litter

Last summer, I drove from Spokane to Anchorage and back, which meant driving the entire length of British Columbia and the Southwest corner of Yukon Territory. Somewhere along the way, I realized that I had seen hardly any roadside trash in Canada. Also, I observed that there were well-marked trash bins every few miles along the highway.

On the return trip, I decided to look for trash and tally the number of items I saw. I did this for the entire distance of about 2,800 miles and counted three items while driving through Canada: a milk container, a plastic bottle and a piece of newspaper.

After crossing the border back to the U.S., I lost count of all the trash I saw on the U.S. side. Today, I drove from Spokane Valley to Post Falls on I-90 and saw enough trash to easily fill the bed of a large truck. What really spurred me to write this letter was seeing a paper bag fly out of the car in front of me. How is it that we Americans have let ourselves get so sloppy when it comes to litter?

Dennis Johnson

Spokane Valley