Someone else will take care of it – an excuse many have used at some point in their lives to dismiss a problem. Paul Jacoby, retired MHS coach and physical education teacher, said he thought exactly that about the trash he saw littering the streets when he took his dog for walks.
One day, he decided he would be that “someone else” and take action against the problem.
“Everywhere I walk I’ve seen trash and litter, and so I thought I should do something about it,” Jacoby said.
Now, five to six days a week, Jacoby cleans up litter along the three to four miles he covers on his hour-long walk.
“It just seemed like the right thing to do,” Jacoby said.
Jacoby’s efforts to clean up the environment have caused some other people to begin doing the same thing.
“By doing the right thing, you help other people do the right thing,” Jacoby said.
Jacoby said he hoped by doing a small part, others would follow his lead and maybe stop littering or start picking up the trash they saw.
“Even things as small as people securing their trash bags on a windy day, or taking the time to wait until they’re near a trash can instead of just throwing trash out of their car can make a difference,” Jacoby said.
Throughout the years he taught at MHS, Jacoby said he saw students leaving trash in the cafeteria, throwing it on the ground and generally not picking up after themselves.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if students didn’t just throw their trash in the halls and classroom floors, and picked up after themselves and others in the cafeteria?” Jacoby said.
Hans Faris, junior, said there is a problem with litter at MHS. Faris said the reason people litter is laziness and the way they were raised.
“Students need to be accountable for their actions,” Faris said. “It’s not the janitors’ job to pick up after every single student.”
Faris said students should pick up trash they see around school, even if it isn’t theirs because it shouldn’t be there and isn’t fair to the custodians.
Jacoby also said the reason people litter is laziness. It traces back to bad habits in homes, where kids are used to their parents cleaning up after them, he said.
“More people need to be better role models by picking up after themselves,” Jacoby said. “If areas are clean, there’s less of a chance of people throwing more trash down there. I think it’s a matter of everyone should leave an area better than they found it. Nobody wants to walk around and see trash everywhere.”
While keeping the community clean is important, Jacoby said, the bigger message is seeing a problem and taking action to solve it rather than standing by.
“For a long time, I saw [the litter] but I didn’t do anything about it,” Jacoby said. “Instead of thinking of doing something good, do something good.”
