Roadside Litter in our Community
Apr 01, 2005
Over the last several months we have been discussing
the various ways Portion Road will be improved to
make our community better. One issue that has been
frustrating many of us as we have looked closely at
the features of the existing road is the large amount
of litter along Portion Road and the other roads in
the community. The new Portion Road will have nice
trees, sidewalks, curbs and other amenities, but if
the litter problem persists, it will not be enjoyable
to walk or bike along the road, and even the car
trips down the road will be disappointing.
We have all seen the letters in Newsday that
frustrated Long Island residents send in
occasionally. They point out that they are amazed and
disappointed at the amount of litter along our roads
and they suggest that something needs to be done
about the problem. They usually mention that they
have just returned from vacation and noticed that the
rest of the country doesn’t have the litter problem
that we have here, or they might mention that they
had relatives visiting from out-of-town and they were
embarrassed by our littered roads when they were
showing them all the otherwise beautiful sights of
Long Island.
It seems obvious that someone in a high
and influential position --- perhaps our County or
Town political leaders, the Business Community, our
Tourism Groups, or even Newsday --- should identify
litter as a major problem and make a genuine
commitment to clean up Long Island. But for some
reason there is a willingness to accept the status
quo and just acknowledge that many of the people who
live here are slobs and don’t care about how the
community. I used to think that it was government’s
job to keep all the roadways clean for us, and I
thought that if they would just send out maintenance
workers on a regular basis to pick-up the litter,
then the road would be reasonably clean. However,
several years ago I got involved with the County
Adopt-A-Highway Program and we started cleaning a
section of Portion Road as a family project. It was
very satisfying to see how nice the road looked after
it was cleaned, especially the wooded roadsides which
collect a great deal of litter, but it was also very
disappointing to see that within hours the litter
would start to appear again. I then realized that our
governmental agencies couldn’t possibly provide
enough workers to keep all our roads clean. Yes they
could certainly do more to address the litter problem
with regular clean-ups, but it is really up to us as
community residents to do something if we want our
community roads to be clean.
The Lake Ronkonkoma
Civic Organization has taken the lead and adopted
Portion Road from Ronkonkoma Avenue to Morris Avenue,
which is about a 2.5-mile stretch of road. We also
recently adopted a section of Hawkins Avenue
stretching from the Medical Buildings north of
Portion Road down to Division Avenue south of Portion
Road. Members and Non- Members of the Civic are
encouraged to come out on the first Saturday of each
month to help pick-up litter along these roads. The
County and the Town provide bags, gloves and safety
vests for us.
Some other possible strategies to help
fight the litter problem are:
- Stricter Enforcement of the No Littering laws that are on the books. Right now people seem to believe that they can discard their trash wherever they want without fear of being caught and punished with a significant fine.
- Better Education of children and residents about the negative effects of littering on the environment and the image of the community.
- Placement of Litter Receptacles along roadways where people walk, at the bus stops and in all shopping centers. It is often difficult to find a convenient place to discard litter properly.
- Require Shopping Center owners to clean their storefront sidewalks and parking lots on a regular basis. This needs to be done on a daily basis, both to keep the area neat and clean, and to prevent the litter from blowing into the adjacent roadways and any nearby wooded areas.
- Greater Involvement by community residents to help keep areas near our homes free from litter, especially vacant wooded areas. We on Long Island take great pride in our yards, lawns and landscaping, but often ignore nearby litterinfested areas because technically they’re not our responsibility.
- Formally Adopt a section of road under the Town of Brookhaven Adopt-A-Highway Program. You do not have to be a formal group or business to participate. A small group of neighbors or a family can adopt a section of road on their own as long as they make a commitment to clean it on a regular basis. The Town will provide the bags and other equipment and they will install signs to identify the volunteers. The details of the program are explained in the brochure that we have included with the newsletter this month. The telephone number to call is 451-6222. The people who administer the program are very friendly and helpful.
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