Inwood; A lack of self respect

You see it everywhere. At it's best; overflowing from trashcans. At it's worst; simply thrown in the street with out a second thought. Litter. It is everywhere. Garbage is filling our streets and it isn't an accident. No- it is on purpose. Everyday Inwood residents with out any moral conflict, throw their garbage in the street.

The trash ranges from take out boxes, to beer bottles. Fast food soda cups, to half eaten fast food. It is disgusting and wreaks of a lack of self respect. Not to mention respect for the neighborhood, respect for your neighbors and respect for yourself.

It has become all too easy in a society that exists on an island like Manhattan, to forget about the impact our lifestyle has on the rest of the world. In a world where people go starving everyday and work endlessly to provide their families with the very basic necessities to simply keep living- New Yorkers and Inwood residents don't even have enough respect for their community to pitch in and throw away their trash properly-- not to mention even trying to recycle.

I think that it is time that we wake up as a community and as citizens in a country where we are free to choose how we live our lives- to make GOOD choices.

This "let someone else do it" attitude is awful. It is sickening and what is worse is the influence it has on young people. This problem will not solve itself. In fact it shouldn't even exist.

In Germany- for instance- the garbage problem got so bad, that they have now found a way to recycle almost everything on a daily basis. The also passed an ordinace to get rid of all redundant packaging. I.E.; Toothpaste doesn't need to come in a box when it is already in a tube. Their trash mostly consists of food waste- which is biodegradable. But it took their country an economic collapse to change their habits. What is it going to take us? Staten island is going to fill up sooner or later...

Already our country is facing some questions that will tell us whether or not we will continue to exist as a free nation- that is able to make its own choices. Currently we are demonstrating to our current government that we enjoy being sloths and pawns, and that we will gladly submit to their every whim if only they will baby us and run themselves and our lives for us. Are we really so lazy that we would rather live in squalor and filth than take charge of our communities and try to make our neighborhoods a better place to live for us and our children? We are telling our government with our apathy that we want our ability to choose how we live taken away from us.

In return our government tells us that it wants to keep us uneducated by cutting funding to schools- Our reply? Sure- as long as my taxes stay low.

In another answer to our apathy- we will clean up after your mess by hiring people with your tax dollars to do it.

Do you see where the problem is? This is only one example of the consequences of our apathy. It is in our own sick inability to throw away our trash properly that we have raised taxes on ourselves -which the city sees as necessary to keep us from burying ourselves in garbage. -Tax money which could be used for better things. I encourage you to take pride in your community! Love your neighborhood enough to walk the extra ten feet to that garbage container on the corner!

Quit twisting the screw on this community- throw away your trash, or better yet, RECYCLE! - it is disgusting and a detriment to the health, education and overall well being of your neighbors and children when you chuck your garbage in the street.

Have some self respect.