By Sally Chappell

Guest Columnist

What about this situation: millions of people without employment and lots of work to be done? We can all think of needs right now in this pandemic crisis. People are in need of food, healthcare and shelter, as well as nonphysical needs such as purpose and meaning in their lives (For an excellent analysis of our nonphysical needs, google Paul K. Chappell — A New Peace Paradigm). The earth continues to be assaulted by the human activities to which we collectively contribute: air pollution, deforestation, climate change, etc. Thanks to the significant contributions of volunteers, many of these needs are being partially met. Government coordination of such activities would be helpful though. There is modern precedent for this type of project — the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

Instituted during the Depression in response to a high unemployment rate, the CCC created beautiful structures during that period that we can still enjoy in our national parks, scenic places and cities. It put thousands of young people to work, and the main architect of the program, Frances Perkins, FDR’s Secretary of Labor, has Maine roots. Her family’s summer cottage is in Newcastle and is maintained as an historic landmark.

In our modern times, we need an Earth Corps, a contingent of paid volunteers doing national service that could be a healing presence for the earth’s degraded ecosystems, as well as a vehicle to engage the nation’s youth in meaningful work. There could be multiple branches of this corps, but one could be a roving crew to pick up roadside litter occupying the aprons of every highway in the U.S.A. The members of this branch could be called, the “Blue Battalion” from their neon blue vests to distinguish them from other road crews, who for the most part wear orange or green neon. The blue color would be symbolic of keeping trash from washing or leaching into waterways and bodies of water.

My own interest in roadside litter cleanup comes from personal experience. As a homemaker with grown children, I’ve extended the concept of “home” to be the earth, which is in dire need of a good cleaning. I often pick up recyclables, returnables and trash along a stretch of Route 302 in West Bridgton. Other people are doing the same thing near their homes. There is even a term applied to the hobby of picking up trash while jogging. “Plogging” began in Sweden as an organized activity around 2016 and then spread to other countries.

Who are the people who purposely throw trash out their vehicle windows or who negligently allow items to fly out of the backs of their pickup trucks? As I collect a varied assemblage of rejected or mistakenly displaced objects, I try not to be judgmental. In the case of purposeful trash disposal onto the highways, the perpetrators may feel disposable themselves. Or, they may opt, in the interest of keeping their vehicles clean, to ditch their trash thinking it will eventually be cleaned up by someone or magically disposed of by nature.

I can’t speak for other roadside picker-uppers, but in my own situation, it’s a case of atonement. For two years, my husband and I disposed of our trash into a clump of banana trees during our service in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Assigned to the capital city of Freetown, we had access to Western-style markets and bought canned and packaged foods regularly. There was no transfer station or curbside pickup. The local dump for everyone in our neighborhood was a clump of banana trees conveniently located below our second-story flat. At one point, the accumulating trash was picked up by someone, and we got the word that we shouldn’t put our trash there anymore. No alternatives were given, however, and we guiltily continued, together with everyone else, using the lovely banana trees to hide our refuse. I must add that the refuse did not pile up too quickly. Food waste was nonexistent, and even bottles and cans were rescued from the pile and turned into a variety of useful products including musical instruments.

The first bit of culture shock I experienced upon setting foot in Freetown was seeing an abundance of roadside trash. But, just a few years ago, I witnessed a similar sight out of a bus window on approach to New York City. It appears that roadside trash is a global phenomenon. An organized government program to address this blight would serve environmental and social purposes.