Green Manners
When good manners mean going green.
Trent Armstrong
Listen
Green Manners
Modern Manners Guy here on the flip side of another Earth Day. “Silly Modern Manners Guy,” you say. “We just call it a ‘day’. The ‘Earth’ part is understood since we all live on the Earth and not on Mars.” And I thank you for your patience, but I’m really talking about the celebration of our planet known properly as Earth Day– the day when we all remember that we only have one Earth and shouldn’t muck it up. Before you think this is Make-It-Green Girl’s podcast, I must inform you that there is a deep need for manners when it comes to taking care of our planet since, ultimately, it means that we are taking care of each other. And who better to talk about taking care of others than moi?
You Dropped This
A few years ago I was massed together with a crowd walking to a football stadium when I noticed a young man fake a candy wrapper toward his pocket and slyly drop it on the ground. Well, I scooped it up and handed it back to him faking that I thought he must have “accidentally” dropped it. He sheepishly said, “Thank you,” and actually stuck the wrapper in his pocket.
I could have just put the paper in the trash myself, but he wouldn’t know that someone is always watching– not in a Big Brother kind of way, but in an I’m-going-to-think-first-before-I-go-and-embarrass-myself-again-like-that way. I also could have just left the trash there on the ground, but that would not be very responsible.
Okay, so I’ve embarrassed this guy and have only talked about littering thus far. So let’s take a look at why it’s bad manners to litter.
Litter Bug
This may be news to some of you, but the world doesn’t revolve around just you– or me for that matter. That was actually kind of a shocker when I realized that. We all live on this Earth; therefore, I’m very much disrespecting you by dropping trash on your planet. We’ll broaden this out in a bit. Just stick with me for now.
In most cities and parks, there is a trash can almost every ten feet. Even campers and hikers have a saying that if you bring something on your trip, you bring it right back out. There is almost no valid excuse for not putting trash in a trash can. The only possible reason I can think of is that you, Litter Bug, consider yourself more important than everyone else and can’t be labored with toting around two whole ounces of paper until you can locate a waste bin.
That’s Not Very Mannerly
Now, I wasn’t really saying earlier that you need to confront and berate those around you who do litter. It’s not very mannerly to do so. I will say, though, that it’s within reason to pleasantly bring attention to your concern for our planet. Say something like, “Excuse me. You dropped this.” Or in a more personal setting, “I’ll just throw that away for you.” Don’t be snooty. Matter-of-fact and generous are what we are striving for.
The Big Butt
Cigarette butts are a really hot topic– no pun intended. It really is terrible for them to be piling up along our roadways and sidewalks, and throwing them in a trash bin is a potential fire hazard. As I said a few podcasts ago, I’m not interested in whether you smoke. I’m really interested in how you treat others around you when doing so, or when disposing of your cigarette.
To those of us who are saddened by the casually discarded butt, I say, “Be careful.”
I don’t think it’s wise or sanitary to pick up a cigarette butt and return it to the person from who it came. That can be construed as extremely confrontational and might elicit responses you’ve only read about in ninja magazines. If this is something that really chaps you, try to work with your city government to bring awareness to the community and educate the locals on how to better dispose of their cigarette butts. Also, yelling out in anger doesn’t really help the situation.
Respectfully Recycling
The idea of Earth Day Manners is not just for littering but should be applied to everything we do. It is good manners to turn off lights and faucets when they are not in use, and you can remind yourself every time you recycle that your manners are the stuff that legends are made of. It’s great to encourage those around you at school or the office to do so as well. Just don’t verbally beat folks up to the point where they decide to make nature their trash can because, as we all know, nature is not our trash can. Trash cans are our trash cans.
Start Early
If you have children or have any influence over children, teaching them these principles early will help instill in them values that will stay with them for a lifetime. All they need to know is what the rules are. Kids are typically very excited about keeping those rules and are even beside themselves when they get to share those rules with others– especially adults.
And if you don’t live in a country that celebrates Earth Day, you might just need to start your own celebration or–at the very least–lead your community by example.
In the meantime, let’s all respect others by respecting the planet they live on, and make every day a day for Earth Day Manners.
Thanks for listening to The Modern Manners Guy’s Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Polite Life.
Now, before I finish up here, I’m working on ideas for my first audio book. I would be very interested to know if there are any broader subjects you all would like to hear about. Please email your thoughts to manners@quickanddirtytips.comcreate new email.
Transcripts of this show can be found at manners.quickanddirtytips.com. Please direct any questions or comments to manners@quickanddirtytips.comcreate new email or 206-666-4MRM.
The Modern Manners Guy is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips Network.
Trash image courtesy of Shutterstock