I never noticed how many people littered. My street was filled with an abundance of trash on the sidewalk. Do these people know where it is going to end up? I decided I needed to put an end to this and I chose my first “student” to teach him how to recycle and to pick up trash. I started with my next-door neighbor, Mr. Handler, who was an old man and did not like to interact much. I walked out to his house, confident that I would be able to make a difference.

“Excuse me, Mr. Handler,” I said. “Do you notice what is all around you?”

            He looked around and said in a grumpy, mean voice, “No, now get away, I don’t need some kid telling me what to do.” As I was about to walk away because I was frightened, I realized I had to do something about the environment!

“Please, I am only trying to help,” I replied in a calm manner.

“Well, I guess I see some trash around here, but it is not all mine. I am not going to clean all of it up, if that is what you think,” asserted Mr. Handler.

“Oh, I know that, but I just thought I would let you know more about the harms of littering and better things you can do like recycling!”

            It almost seemed like Mr. Handler was actually paying attention and wanted to learn more. To make him feel less comfortable, I started to pick up some of the trash that was lying around on the sidewalk so it would not just be him cleaning up. It got quiet all of a sudden, so I began another conversation.

“You know Mr. Handler, when somebody litters, it makes their surroundings look unpleasant. Some people might judge you on the way you keep your yard.”

Soon after I made this statement, Mr. Handler replied with a stubborn reply, “I do not care! Most people all ready judge me.”

I saw some plastic bottles left outside near his garbage cans and got a great idea.   

My parents have two extra recycling pales that they would let me give to Mr. Handler. I told him I would be right back and ran to my house. I got the pale and ran back excitedly to show my neighbors that it is not so hard to do something right.