Outside tipping its not not good enough

Something that doesn't get much attention, until you wish there were one handy, are outdoor trash receptacles. Then, it's hard to imagine life without them. Public trash cans, though fairly commonplace wherever large groups of people tend to congregate, are actually starting to disappear in places that seem to need them the most.

In a strange reversal of history, some state park systems have phased out many of their smaller garbage cans in favor of having people either take their trash home with them, or at least to drop off at large on-site receptacles emptied by private garbage movers. This "Carry in, Carry Out" philosophy swept like a wave across government-managed parks in the United States over the late 1990s and into the early 2000s. The rationale, it would seem, is to call upon visitors' sense of environmental stewardship and fiscal responsibility. After all, it is their tax dollars that have been used all this time to haul away refuse from state parks. Wouldn't that be one less expense on a park's operating budget? Yes, it would... except that some people will always litter, given the right circumstances. And taking away a designated place for them to stow their trash is setting the stage for trouble.

So now, park employees can spend more of their working hours on litter patrol and less on providing educational services for visitors. One can imagine the number of picnic basket owners, who instead of just having to contend with curious critters gathering around the lunchtime spread, now have to wonder if some of the bigger varieties will make a meal of their trash ca --, er, car. State Park Trash Cans, We Hardly Knew Ye

Humankind is hardly unique when it comes to indiscriminate trash dumping: Most animals seem to care not a whit where they cast off their refuse. Granted, theirs is mostly biodegradable in nature. In the 19th and especially the 20th century, as goods relied more on packaging for freshness and protection, the amount of non-biodegradable trash produced by people grew accordingly.

The concept of municipalities providing public trash cans to promote sanitation is a relatively modern concept. As a holdover from Old World ways, trash in many cities in the United States was typically dumped in the street. It wasn't until 1866 that New York City's Metropolitan Board of Health forbade the "throwing of dead animals, garbage or ashes into the streets." And it wasn't until 1872 that the Big Apple put a stop to tipping its garbage off a platform over the East River built expressly for that purpose. Streets that served as public dumping grounds weren't just East Coast phenomena: In 1896, Chicago's City Council noted its concern over the death rate in the 19th Ward, which amounted to about eight miles of unpaved streets that could not be swept, roads "polluted to the last degree with trampled garbage, excreta and other vegetables and animal refuse of the vilest description."

As the national and state park systems grew in the 20th century, more and more people from both urban and rural settings came out to appreciate them, prepackaged foods in tow. How to keep maintain the local ecosystem and keep up with the refuse of all those picnickers? Outdoor trash receptacles remains an obvious solution. As Joni Mitchell sang in her ironically upbeat tune, 'They Paved Paradise", you don't what you've got till it's gone.