Hwy 89A Trash picked up by others for others

Sedona AZ (March 11, 2013) – In the quiet Verde Valley, amongst the towns we all know, Cottonwood, Sedona, Cornville and others, there thrives a community that few of us know about, Folksville USA. It is a community not based on people living together in one place, but people with a common goal. Headed by Gary Chamberlain, Folksville USA is dedicated to the beautification of Arizona, specifically with regards to cleaning litter on the sides of our highways.

Youth groups, age 12 and up, are able to participate in this cause. In conjunction with the ADOT Adopt-A-Highway organizations, youth groups can clean up sections of the highway, earning payment for every large trash bag they collect. Local businesses can also participate by donating to the youth groups for each full bag they collect.

The way it’s set up is a win-win situation for everybody. The youth groups get funding for activities and equipment, the Adopt-A-Highway organizations are able to honor their commitment to clean the highways three times a year, local businesses can support the youth and help promote a clean environment, and Folksville USA gets the funding it needs to restore beauty to “America & Arizona the Beautiful.”

Having shown that cleaning up this litter is a productive and worthwhile cause, both financially and ethically, I find that this method of making America beautiful begs a greater question.

Cottonwood Boy Scout Troop 7021 during Folksville USA February 16, 2013 litter abatement event

Is it better to clean up after the people that litter, or prevent them from littering in the first place?

As a Boy Scout, and a member of the LDS Church, I’ve had the opportunity to spend several Saturdays on the side of Arizona Highway 89A between Cottonwood and Sedona cleaning up trash. After multiple times I noticed an odd phenomena. On the side of the highway going towards Sedona there was less trash than on the side going towards Cottonwood. Significantly less! I would estimate we collected 4 or 5 times as many bags on the Cottonwood-bound side!

Why is this?

Is it because there is a certain amount of respect or gratitude towards the natural beauty of Sedona, subconsciously restraining people from discarding their garbage? Or can it be blamed on a certain group of people, who for some reason are more inclined to litter when they happen to be leaving Sedona? Should I, as is so easy and common for humans to do, place the blame on someone other than myself?

Though many of us don’t litter, I believe the garbage that is on our highways stems from deeper personal and social degeneration, specifically, the lack of gratitude and respect for our nation. It seems that as we, as a whole and individually, have grown more selfish, we have abandoned the gratitude we once had. Instead of remembering all the work and sacrifice it took to ensure our freedom and our the prosperity of our society, we complain about all the things we lack.

I suggest that we stop seeking for more and more to make us happy, and that we remember how much we have, and how little others have in comparison. Remember, remember the sacrifices many great people have made to make it possible for us to live as comfortably as we do.

The fact that respect for the beauty of Sedona has led to less litter on that side of the road seems to confirm the idea that, IF we are more grateful for the place we live, we will naturally be far less inclined to defile it.

To make our nation a better place we all have to prevent ourselves from defiling our nation, whether we do that with litter on the side of the road, or by other selfish means. I’m thankful that I have been able to help keep our valley clean and raise some money helping the cause of Folksville USA.

This SedonaEye.com article written by Travis Roske travisroske@gmail.com, Troop 7021, winner of Folksville USA essay contest.

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