Litter Bugs Repent on World Clean-up Day

In accordance with 19 V.I. Code Ann. - 1561(e), whenever any person is apprehended for any violation of 19 V.I. Code Ann. - 1563 (which basically amounts to littering) committed in a public place, the apprehending officer may serve upon them a citation and notice which shall be in a form approved by the Superior Court and shall be known as a “Litter Ticket.”

Keeping that V.I. code in mind, with World Clean-up Day on September 20, 2024, and with Keep America Beautiful Day, not far back in the rearview mirror, picture this scenario if you will. 

It’s your day off. Always a good feeling. You decide to hose down the car and take a ride. Meet one of your buddies for lunch and then chill down at the beach. Beautiful day on the island. St. Croix your home. Your place in the sun. And on this particular day, there’s lots of sun. Lots of blue skies. Not a care in the world scratching around in your brain. 

You head out of your community. Wave at the kids playing out on the lawns. Start to take a left at the light…and oops! What in the world is that sitting smack dab in the middle of the street? Right there, blocking you from making your turn. Oh fer…it’s a huge black garbage bag. Right there. Right where you’ve gotta make the turn before you get on the highway. You definitely cannot easily go around it. It’s enormous. You certainly don’t want to stop the car, throw it into park, and have to get out and kick the thing out of your way. Who knows what could be inside it? Could be a creature. A bag of snakes. An alien. Don’t laugh. Could be an alien waiting to carjack you. Never know in this day and age. Aliens do not come down here with their own cars, that’s for sure. Or do they? 

No, no, that’s ridiculous. What is more than likely, it’s someone’s disgusting bag of garbage. That’s probably what it is. One of those 60-gallon garbage bags filled with all sorts of throw-away crap. Some inconsiderate, lazy-butt, nincompoop, who couldn’t care a hoot about World Clean-up Day or Keep America Beautiful Day, went and tossed this huge clump of garbage right out onto the street. Ridiculous! That is not an empty Home Depot box. It’s not a pizza box. It’s not even one of those styrofoam boxes filled with ugly bones of last night’s chicken snack. You see those types of things strewn across the streets all the time. Those are nothing new. They’re the usual litter. The common forms of litter. You get used to seeing that type of litter. Heck, it’s become so common, maybe some people don’t even consider it to be litter anymore. Sure, it’s more like street art, isn’t it? That’s it, street art. Smashed up styrofoam boxes and chewed-on paper plates. Plastic ‘Thank You’ bags blowing wild in the wind. Old gym shoes. Not Nikes of course. No, no, but this is not street art garbage. This is definitely one of those 60 gallon, heavy duty construction bags filled to the brim with who knows what. Maybe it’s construction garbage. No, probably just all sorts of disgusting garbage that nobody wanted to properly throw away. Too much trouble.

Bad news… But heck, you’re not going to let this spoil your day, now are you? So you make a decision, you hang a wild end-run left turn and go around it, skid up on the curb, practically smack into the light post, but you get on your way. Drive on. Not your problemo. It’s your day off. ‘Blue skies up above, everyone’s in love.’ At least that’s how the song goes. Well, maybe not everyone’s in love. What could the idiot who tossed that huge bag of garbage out onto the street know about love?

Well, okay, so you keep on rolling. Up the highway. Through Sunny Isles. Turn down that road that leads to the Beeson Hill cut-off. And Whoa! Garbage galore strewn all over the place. Garbage heaven. At least it used to be. It’s a lot better now under the current administration. They seem to take a lot more pride in keeping the island clean than the past couple administrations. In years past you couldn’t barely drive down that snaky road without being accosted by all sorts of ugly garbage. Always one of the worst roads on the island for litter. Makes sense. Very few lights at night. No homes. No gas stations. No businesses. Might as well toss it out here, huh? No one’s looking. Good a place as any. Better than most. Locals call it Beer Can Heaven. Just add yours to the piles.

But there’s not much you can do about it. Gotta keep rolling. Pick up your buddy. Sure can’t stop on that snaky road. Smash-up if you do. Too many curves. And besides, you didn’t litter it up. You never throw anything out the window. Not even a toothpick.

Now there’s your buddy. Waiting out front. Packed a nice beer cooler and some wings. Great guy. Head out for the beach. Beautiful day! Park up on that old bluff. Head down the path to that deserted little spot where you both can get good and drunk and convene with nature. Swap a few long tales. Fun times…You head up to the tall grass, just above the beach. Blue, blue waters straight ahead… But wait. Is this the same spot we’ve visited several times before? Can’t be. The other spot was clean as a whistle. This place is filled with junk. Looks like a garbage dump. Coke cans, beer cans, styrofoam containers filled with chicken bones, pizza boxes, food wrappers, plastic cups, ‘Thank You’ bags. Uh, uh. No thank you. Bunch a pig’s left this place. Musta been camped out here. 

“Looks like some people drove a boat up on the beach, lit a fire and had a party,” my buddy remarked. “This is the government’s fault. They should be on top of this, cleaning this place up.” 

“Same thing on the roads. What are we paying tax dollars for?” 

“I guess we could try and clean it up.” 

“And ruin this whole day?”

“Yeah, you’re right, we didn’t do it.”

“Let’s just move on down the beach. Get away from this dump site.”

“We could call it in.” 

“To who?”

“I don’t know. Good question.”

“Should be a garbage hotline.”

“Should be.”

V.I. Code states: A ‘litter ticket’ includes spaces for the name and address of the person cited, the offense charged, and the time and place of its commission. If a person cited for littering refuses to furnish his or her name and address, he or she may be taken into custody.”  

And so the sun goes down. Both of you are feeling good. Days over. You drop your buddy off. Not a bad day overall. A few minor distractions. The litter. But no biggie. What can you do about it? Head back to the old homestead. 

Come down the highway, up towards your community. “No, no. I can not believe this. All day and no one’s come to pick up that bag of trash. That huge black bag is still here. Same spot. Can you believe these people who run this island?”

You swing around it. Turn the corner. Head for the crib. 

Suddenly, you jam on the brakes. Check the rearview. Shift into reverse. Put it into park. Get out. Walk over and grab the black bag. Toss it in the trunk. Really isn’t that heavy. Just get it outta here. Off the street. Let VIWMA pick it up from the can at your house. 

The VI Code clearly states: If the fine is not paid within the stated time, a summons to appear in court shall be issued and, if the violation was committed from a motor vehicle, boat or aircraft, a lien shall be placed against the same until the fine is paid.”

World Clean-up Day will unite 18 million volunteers and 157 countries across the globe for a cleaner planet. It is the biggest waste collection day in human history.