Tackling trash

The Gazette Editorial Board

-----

Earlier this year, we lamented the loads of litter thoughtlessly discarded along Melrose Avenue in Iowa City on football Saturdays. And we hoped that the University of Iowa and the city would, instead of passing the buck to one another, cooperate to devise a better approach to taming the trash.

So we were pleased to receive word this week, just as the 2011 football season opens, of a partnership among the university, city, the Melrose Neighborhood Foundation and the Extend the Dream Foundation to tackle the trash problem.

A Cedar Rapids firm, 7G Distributing, has donated 50 trash containers to be placed by the city in the Melrose Avenue and Melrose Court areas. Extend the Dream workers with disabilities, donning Hawkeye vests and hats, get a part-time job opportunity. They'll place bags in the containers, monitor them and dispose of them afterward.

Sure, 50 new containers won't completely solve the trash problem. But it will make an impact. A shortage of containers and failure to empty stuffed trash barrels in the past has contributed to the overall problem.

Of course, the biggest key to reducing trash is for Iowa fans to think twice before littering. With all the new cans, there's no excuse for failing to walk a few extra steps to find a trash bin. Do the right thing. And Go Hawks!

n Comments: thegazette.com/

category/opinion/editorial or

editorial@sourcemedia.net