Memories of The Solar Trash Compactor

Why would they ruin it? I can't figure it out. For those of you who have yet to witness for yourselves what I am talking about I will elaborate. A little less than 1 year ago a renovation of a green sitting area behind Edwards on the corner of Calhoun was completed. I was extremely excited when it was completed. There is a daycare center in the corner building of Edwards that directly overlook the outdoor sitting area. It was a positive clean addition to the community not to mention it relayed a positive message to the small children exposed to it every day. I myself feel children, if raised on certain images and aspects of environmental norms, will grow up to expect those things as normal and try to reproduce it. Say for instance if a child grows up in a bad neighborhood and is constantly exposed to litter that they just grow up thinking it is normal to see trash on the ground and they themselves may even litter someday. One of the crowning structures in this outdoor area was the solar powered trash compactor. What an absolutely fabulous idea! I am not saying that we need these around every corner; however if you are expecting an area to be a high traffic area and in anticipation of people in the area producing a lot of trash then yes I do think it is a great idea. I stopped and carefully studied the object the first time I wandered passed it and as I walked on I left with a smile on my face with the thought that "Well, this is a step in the right direction".

Then I walked through the green once again only about 3 days ago only to find the solar powered trash compactor destroyed. Inspecting the area more closely it looks as though the compactor was blown up. I'm not sure what exactly happened here but it is hurtful to think that someone just mindlessly destroyed this extraordinary piece of public property. I really want people to reflect on that word "public". That trash compactor was for everyone just like the green around it, the benches, parks, and sidewalks. When people just mindlessly deface, destroy litter and abuse these public pieces they are taking away from other people. They are hurting themselves too. Something tells me that trash compactor wasn't cheap and that was the tax money of everyone that went into paying for it including whomever destroyed it.

We should all try to think in the terms that when you are a part of a community whether that be the community you live in, work in, or frequent in anyway you are a part of a family. I had complained to my Dad once when I was younger about always having to do chores daily and never receiving an allowance like my peers. My dad told me that when you are a part of a family you share in the responsibilities and you share the rewards. The responsibilities were things like doing the dishes, the bathroom, and dusting. The rewards were things like when we go on vacation together, too the movies, or even out for dinner. If we take care of our community there will develop a natural instinct not to ruin it and our reward will be a nicer place to be.