Don't get me started on the subject of trash. It raises my blood pressure and makes me wonder why others are not as concerned about the ever-growing trash problem in our community.
Trash is everywhere ... in trees and bushes, all over our streets and in our parks. Mounds of trash get stuck in chain link fences, tumbleweeds and thorny bushes. No one seems to acknowledge it or do anything about cleaning it up.
It's more than those pesky plastic bags. It's bottles, soft drink cans, boxes and overall general litter that makes one wonder how it got there, for some of that litter is so heavy, it just couldn't have been blown by our famous Nevada wind.
Keeping our community clean is part of our image and overall quality of life. The city has street sweepers to deal with the coffee cups and other trash so thoughtlessly thrown out by litterbugs, but it's the trash not in the gutter that is causing us to look unappealing as of late. Our parks and open spaces could use a good sprucing up.
The Carson City Chamber is so concerned about our litter problem that we have established a relationship with the Carson City Parks and Recreation Department to gather a group of volunteers from the business community monthly and clean different areas of our city, including our parks.
We've had four cleanup events thus far and the trashiest area of all was the July cleanup at the corner of Russell Way and Highway 50 East. Our dedicated troops pitched in and raked and cleaned in the hot sun to make that little corner of the world less unsightly.
Perhaps if we continue to set an example to be out there monthly with our army of anti-
litterbugs, others will follow by stooping to pick up that offensive trash that blights our city.
If everyone just picked up one piece of trash, consider what a difference it would make!
The Chamber's Litter Free Carson City program began in mid-March and our slogan is trim our waste as we trim our waists. The business community has embraced the program and we have had incredible assistance from the employees of the Carson Nugget and Greater Nevada Credit Union.
Neither businesses nor new residents will choose Carson City if we continue to litter our streets and not make an effort to clean them.
• Ronni Hannaman is executive director of the Carson City Chamber of Commerce. E-mail her at director
@carsoncitychamber.com.
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