CRYSTAL
As a child growing up in the United States, my first understanding of the notion that we are personally and collectively responsible for the care of creation came when I was about six years old. At the time, it was not atypical to witness passengers in other cars throw out their trash as they drove along the highway. At the time, my understanding of “right from wrong” came from what I was taught by my parents. Shortly thereafter I started hearing them talk about the need to be respectful of our environment. What I later learned was that a campaign called “Keep America Beautiful” was founded in December 1953 by a group of nonprofit organizations, government agencies and concerned individuals in reaction to the growing problem of litter that followed the construction of the Interstate Highway System and an increasingly mobile and convenience-oriented American consumer. The original goal of the organization was to reduce litter through public education. In 1961, the idea that every individual must help protect against the effects litter has on the environment came up with the slogan “Every litter bit hurts.” The effectiveness of the campaign can be seen today throughout the American landscape as miles and miles of roads are cleared of litter by volunteer groups who “adopt’ segments of the highway. Eventually, public education has changed this common practice of littering to something that is now socially unacceptable behavior. For me this highlights how effective it can be to tackle a widespread problem by calling on individuals to do their part to effect social change.
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Crystal and Kevin Sullivan
