The sun and wind have melted our snow cover and on my walks I have seen the first pussy willows. I have also been picking up trash along the roads I travel.
I did not always understand the importance of putting litter in its place. I don’t think I learned this as a child but from the value system of the family I married into. I am now seeing how children can learn the importance of putting trash where it should go. On this topic, I have two stories to tell you.
The first story takes place at the library. I was leaving just as two beautiful teenage girls were entering. But first, one of the young women dropped a cigarette butt onto the ground and put it out with her foot. “I am trying hard to keep our town clear of litter, would you please put the cigarette in the receptacle by the door?” The young woman apologized and put the butt into the designated container. I thanked her, we both smiled, and wished each other a nice day.
The second story is from the Toad House Enchanted Forest. If you have been following the zieslertoadhouse blog, you will know that a terrible littering troll lives somewhere in the forest. Two little girls who live nearby and who attended the Dr. Seuss birthday party were in the woods looking for toads. (The toads help protect the forest from the littering of that terrible troll.) Together we read the story about the troll and then proceeded to walk the path and pick up pieces of that dastardly litter. The next day I watched as the two children helped their little sister put another piece of troll litter into the garbage can.
Please help your young children learn to value and care for the environment. Take care to be thoughtful and kind to our teenagers who may not have yet learned these values––but who, like all of us old toads, can still learn and leave a better world for future generations .
Today’s poem is an anonymous poem that I found online. Janelle Thompson provided the sketch to go with the poem.
Winds of March
Winds of March, we welcome you,
There is work for you to do
Work and play and blow all day,
Blow the Winter wind away.
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