Thank you, Jeff Misener (Herald, Jan. 3), for your heartfelt concern for the trash littering our highways and city streets. You are not alone.
I believe there are many of us who are indignant at the state of our roads, try to do what we can, but feel overwhelmed by the work to be done. There is more trash because there is more traffic, more fast-food disposables, more carelessness.
A few miles are “adopted” so they get picked up a couple times a year by volunteers, only to have litter reappear within a couple days. Downtown gets a once-a-year cleanup. Some individuals pick up as they walk trails and streets.
There is plenty of civic pride, but we may have outgrown just relying on volunteers to keep us clean. A call to action should include the city of Durango, Downtown Business Improvement District, La Plata County, Colorado Department of Transportation and the Durango Area Tourism Office to collaborate on addressing town and county trash. Invite concerned citizens and organizations to be part of the discussion.
Solutions will need priority goals, publicity and a budget. Some ideas: Start a cleanup service where businesses can sponsor weekly or monthly “litter pickers” around their parking lot and roadside. Hire day labor to pick up after CDOT has mowed beside sections of highway. Develop Adopt-a-Highway to include more organizations, county miles, meridians, streets, hills and trails. Donate to nonprofits working overtime to clean up.
A clean Durango area should be a priority. Being litter-free will benefit us all.
Bonnie Simons
Durango
