Come on, guys. This is nasty. | Source: Shutterstock

I was only a Girl Scout for a couple years and I’m not exactly the picture of a goody two shoes, but when it comes to the earth–I really do think we all have to do our part to keep it safe and clean. My Earth Avenger alter-ego came out loud and clear a few weeks ago when my boyfriend and I were walking to dinner. Some dude ahead of us had just finished a bag of chips and decided to use the sidewalk was his own personal trash can.

After watching him proudly litter, like it was the most natural thing in the world to do, I loudly said, “Gee, littering is awesome–why don’t we all throw our trash on the street?!” The guy was obviously embarrassed, and my boyfriend was shocked–he’d never seen that side of me before–but I didn’t feel even a tiny bit bad for calling out that litter bug.

This book? It rules. | Source

Littering has been a pet peeve of mine since I was a little girl. My grandma used to read me this awesome book called “Litterbugs Come In Every Size,” about these crazy looking creatures who threw so much trash everywhere that they didn’t have any place left to sleep or play. The message totally stuck–um, HELLO! I like having places to sleep and play!–and now, here I am, walking around Brooklyn and yelling at hipsters to pick up their garbage. (Thanks, Grandma!)

But litter actually is a serious issue. When trash on the street gets washed into our drain systems, not only is our water supply polluted, but fish and other animals in the water eat these nasty bits of trash and get sick. And if people eat those fish, they can get sick, too. It’s a pretty scary cycle if you think about it–a cycle where we all lose.

So, to all you litter bugs out there–throwing garbage on the street isn’t cute, and it certainly isn’t cool. It’s just trashy. Clean up your act and find a trash can. It’s not that hard to hold onto your bag, bottle, tissue, whatever for just a few more steps–and it really is worth it.

Do you know any litter bugs? Does it drive you totally nuts when people are gross and throw their trash everywhere? Tell me all about it in the comments!

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