Only we can change our thoughts and actions

One of the hardest lessons we have to learn as humans is you can not force others to do as you wish and you must make choices based on this. The only thing we truly have control over is our own inner thoughts and outer actions. We can provide information, influence and suggestions to our loved ones and associates, but the desire to change must be within the individual. Accountability and responsibility involves claiming our own power and using our wisdom to create different results in life.

Accountability occurs either consciously or unconsciously and can be changed the same way. If we discard cigarette butts through the open window of our car or as we walk down a street, it is our choice. If we don't properly package our household garbage before placing it outside for pickup and it is scattered all over the neighborhood by the wind and animals, it is our choice. If we don't vote for our leaders, it is our choice.

Problem is our choices effect other people. If we mess up the environment, someone else has to clean it up. If we really don't care, it doesn't bother us.

I care. So, every morning at 7:30 A.M. I hit the streets to do my part to try to keep our city from being totally overrun with litter and blowing solid waste. There are currently about 600 members of our Adopt YOUR Block organization here in Huntington. Each member has committed to keeping the block on which they live free of cigarette butts and litter discarded by thoughtless children, teens and adults. If you would like to adopt your block, email me at adoptyourblock@adelphia.net and I will deliver you a "litter-gitter" stick, so you won't even have to touch the things you pick up. Just put the litter in a bag and put it outside with your regular household trash and the City of Huntington will take it. Please join us in taking individual responsibility for your block - JUST YOUR BLOCK, that's all! Thanks for caring enough to get involved.

Why have litter laws if they are not enforced?

State of West Virginia Law Section 20-7-26 Unlawful Disposal of Litter: Any person who violates the litter control law is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Violation in an amount less than 100 pounds or 27 cubic fee.
First conviction: Fine of $50 to $500 or 8 to 16 hours of community service, or both.

Violation in an amount of 100 to 500 pounds or 27 to 216 cubic feet.
First conviction: Fine of $500 to $2,000 or 16 to 32 hours of community service, or both.

Violation in an amount of over 500 pounds or 216 cubic feet.
First conviction: Fine of $2,500 to $25,000 or confinement in a jail for up to
1-year, or both.

Any person convicted of a second or subsequent violation is subject to double the authorized range of fines and community service for the subsequent violation.

Any driver of a motor vehicle or other land conveyance convicted of violating this law, shall have three points assessed against his or her driver's license.

It is time for our public officials to announce publicly that they will begin immediately to enforce this state law. We should hold them responsible for their failure to have citations written for any violator observed to be littering. What do you think?

Slow Us down, Lord.

After much thought about the wisdom of a special levy for paving Huntington's poorly maintained streets, I suddenly remembered a small prayer my saintly mother suggested to me. She told me that I should pray that God would "slow me down" anytime I considered doing anything that would have consequences on other people. Her thought was that when we are self-absorbed we have a tendency to act with haste and, most often, act foolishly, to the detriment of all concerned.

I decided to follow Mother's advice, and I talked with a few people in leadership rolls in the city for whom I have great respect and admiration. Here is my modified position on the proposal to place a levy on the November ballot that would have citizens of Huntington vote, yea or nay, on an excess levy to pave our streets that have been in deplorable condition for years.

Let's slow down! Just because we suddenly have extra funds from the long drawn out property tax dispute, must we spend it immediately as if the money were "burning a hole in our pocket"? Why must we always be patching our city's operating budget in a willy-nilly manner? Let's all sit down, administration and council, and come up with a "business plan" and budget for the next fiscal year that reflects a true picture of what it takes to run the city and provide quality services to our citizens. With the plan and a realistic budget constructed for the 2007-2008 fiscal year, we can then present a proposal to the citizens for a levy that will adequately fund (at least adequately) the basic services our citizens need and expect!

Go ahead and buy the needed police cruisers now. And, certainly, replace the city's aged computer system, but hold onto the money left from the windfall property tax collection and merely earmark it for future paving - and spend it for that purpose only after a "business plan" for the city is agreed upon by the administration and the Huntington City Council and that a priority list of street paving projects is available and discussed with citizens during called townhall meetings and public hearings. Let's stop just patching the streets, and pave each street entirely! And let's not forget to resurrect as many bricks streets as we can. The same goes for the need for anti-litter equipment - such as the city-wide-installation of litter receptacles and cigarette disposal equipment on each and every street corner.

"Slow us down, Lord."

Note: There is a public hearing on this issue in the City Council Chambers at Huntington City Hall on Friday, August 18, 2006, at 4 P.M. Please attend and be heard.

Ms. Michelle, may I introduce you to www.AdoptYourBlock.com?

Ms. Michelle, thank you for your positive comments about our area's litter problem. Please visit the Adopt Your Block - Be a litter-Gitter website at www.AdoptYourBlock.com.

We have close to 600 volunteers in Huntington who have been "litter-gitters" for the past year. Our website reflects the amount of litter we have removed from our neighborhoods. Please join us! I will gladly deliver one of our litter pickup sticks, bags and gloves. We only ask that you commit to keeping just your own block free of cigarette butts and other litter. We focus on eliminating litter - one block at a time.

Our noble cause is being joined by others each day. We are committed to making our area shine! Again, thanks for your on-going ideas and encouragement.

Surprise - We Have A Litter Problem!

The presence of litter exposes a truth about Huntington and the surrounding communities – there is a decline in standards of cleanliness and tidiness that are a sign of a deeper malaise, a symptom of moral and spiritual decline.

The reason most community litter control efforts fail is because people want instant results and put their effort into cleaning up, but this does not change the behavior that leads to littering.

Some Possible Reasons We Have a Litter Problem

· We live in a "disposable" culture
· Packaging
· Easy to carry discardables
· Underage drinkers
· Attitude
· "Can do whatever we want" culture
· Lack of education in schools
· Attitudes-children are the key
· Laziness and "don't care"
· No consequences
· Trash flying out of trucks
· "Someone (else) will pick it up"
· Restricted hours for landfill facilities and no means of hauling
· Lack of city-wide litter and cigarette butt disposal equipment

Until we citizens insist that the city government install the necessary infrastructure for litter disposal, we will always be a littered and unattractive city. Every street corner in Huntington must have a secured litter receptacle and every business should have a cigarette disposal unit at their entrance, since customers may not enter with a lighted cigarette. After these are in place, enforcement comes next. The city government must show leadership in getting the proper litter control equipment in place.

Then we can get real serious about enforcement. Those who litter, after there is litter equipment readily available should pay! The fine for littering is up to $500 and/or up to the thirty-days (30) in jail, and a cigarette butt thrown from an automobile includes a fine and/or jail-time and three (3) points on your drivers license. Everyone be forwarned; now let's get the infrastructure in place!

What do you think?

Keep Your Butt Off Of Our Streets!

According to CigaretteLitter.org, it is estimated that several trillion cigarette butts are littered worldwide every year. That's billions of cigarettes flicked, one at a time, on our sidewalks, streets, beaches, nature trails, gardens, and other public places every single day. In fact, cigarettes are the most littered item in the United States and the world. Cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, not cotton, and they can take decades to degrade. Not only does cigarette litter ruin even the most picturesque setting, but the toxic residue in cigarette filters is damaging to the environment, and littered butts cause numerous fires every year, some of them fatal.

The battle against cigarette litter can only be won if smokers join the fight on the right side. There are already millions of smokers who don't litter their cigarettes, and many of them are actively spreading the word to fellow smokers. Unfortunately, they are still a small minority. If you are a considerate smoker who doesn't litter, thank you! Please continue setting a positive example and please continue to help us in any way that you can.

If you are a smoker who does litter, we hope that you will learn about the impact of your actions and break the habit. Think about why you litter and think about whether those reasons really make sense to you. Chances are you have used one or more of the following rationales for your behavior:

They are biodegradable. No they are not! This is a gigantic myth. Different groups have done different studies and their results differ, with some people saying cigarettes decompose in a year, some saying it takes twelve years, and others saying they never decompose at all, as the filters are made of a type of acetate that never fully breaks down.

What else am I supposed to do with them? There are many ways to dispose of cigarettes without littering them on the ground. You can improvise with such things as film containers, metal mint containers, regular tin foil, or anything else that’s handy. Then at the first opportunity dispose of them properly. A note to motorists – please use your car ashtray! If it is OK to put it in your mouth, it is OK to put it in your ashtray.

It serves everybody right for making me smoke outside and taxing my cigarettes.
We don't want to get into any smoking issues unrelated to litter. We will say that we think littering is a very short-sighted and ineffective way to get your message across. Smokers who litter give a bad name to all smokers and make non-smoking activists even more dedicated to increasing smoking bans and raising taxes.

Adopt YOUR Block is encouraging our local governments to install cigarette disposal equipment on every street corner. And since smokers cannot enter a building with a lighted cigarette, why don’t all business owners install disposal equipment at their entrances? We can be successful at eliminating this unnecessary nuisance by working together to get the facts out and to raise public awareness on the issue. Together, both smokers and non-smokers, we can make our area shine!