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I am a longtime fan of the American humourist David Sedaris, but I became an even bigger admirer when I learned that he is uncommonly devoted to picking up litter in West Sussex, England, where he calls home most of the time. He even had a garbage truck named after him — Pig Pen Sedaris — in recognition of his efforts.
He spends hours doing this, logging some 20,000 steps in the process. “It’s bad for the spirit to walk through filth. Littering is important. It’s disgraceful. Why should everyone live in a teenager’s bedroom?” he told a committee of MPs back in 2015.
April in Winnipeg is an exercise in walking through filth. The snow melts to reveal brown grass studded with faded Slurpee cups and chip bags and coffee lids and fast-food packaging.
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I’ve obviously always noticed this spring scourge, but I am acutely aware of it now that I have my pup Phoebe, who, maybe I’ve mentioned, is a scavenger who picks up everything.
Here is an incomplete list of things I have retrieved out of this dog’s mouth: sticks, rocks, pinecones, a big rusty nail, hair ties, napkins, a wine charm, screws and once, memorably, an orange Bic lighter left on the ground outside of a construction site.
Luckily, she doesn’t ingest, just chews. She has soft pink jowls that we call her “pockets,” because that’s where she keeps her contraband. When I pick her up and can actually get a finger in her mouth to do a sweep — already a feat, because she pushes me away with her front paws and that lil’ girl is freakishly strong — I often come up empty, because she’s stashed her trash in one of her “pockets.”
Then I set her down, satisfied I’ve successfully saved her life for another day, and she starts chewing again. It’s a fun game that I love!
Anyway, as you can imagine, litter season is extremely problematic in our world — she’s gonna think her name is PHOEBELEAVEIT! pretty soon — but my particular bugbear is all the butts, which could actually poison her. Filthy habit, indeed.
This feels like an Earth Day stop littering PSA — and, like, that would be great — but maybe it’s more of a reminder that maybe we need to think more like Sedaris when we can. See something on the ground, pick it up (if it’s safe and you’re able and all that good stuff). Join a community cleanup effort. Do our part.
Employees from downtown businesses, residents and community members pick up litter in groups throughout the downtown and the Exchange District in 2022. (Tyler Searle / Free Press files).
This week, the Washington Post reported on a previously unaired interview with the late Jane Goodall — who I also had the tremendous pleasure of interviewing in person for this paper back in 2015 — in which she urged people to combat helplessness and hopelessness about the environment by taking action in their own communities, however small.
“Just do something,” she said. It really is that simple. Just do something.
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