Litter remains stubborn problem in New Mexico despite nearly 70 years of messaging
The nearly 70-year-old Keep America Beautiful campaign beseeching people not to litter appears to be losing ground. As Earth Day turns 51, the trash blighting New Mexicos roadsides, parks, forests, arroyos and anywhere else it can be cast off or wind-blown shows that many people dont revere the planet as much as conservationists would hope.
When Earth Day was established in 1970, it marked the official beginning of the modern environmental movement, with 20 million people taking to the streets to protest the lack of regulation of polluters. Anti-litter campaigns ratcheted up as part of an effort to make the world a cleaner, greener place.
New Mexico had its Toss No Mas campaign in the 1990s and plans to revive it in May to counter what some describe as the public having a giant relapse into bad, careless habits.
Littering has grown worse during the coronavirus pandemic, and government officials can only speculate as to why. In any case, there is no excuse for tossing garbage on the ground or letting it fly from bins and bags, they say. The word disgusting was used more than once to describe cast-off items.
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