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It’s easy to drive by and shake your head when you see glass bottles poking through the desert sands or a stray plastic bag hanging off thorny shrub. However, a small group of locals have stepped up to be the ones who stop and pick up that trash.
“Personally, I am driven by respect for the environment and a desire to do something to protect the surrounding desert and wildlife,” said group member Elaine Stachera Simon. “There are tangible problems we solve by picking up trash, like preventing wild animals from getting their heads stuck in cans and other containers.”
The group calls themselves the Badass Litter Pickers (BLiPS), and includes writer Stachera Simon and her husband, Dominic Simon; Dr. Michaela Buenemann, associate professor of geography at NMSU; Trish Cutler; and Raena Cota, program manager at NMSU. They connected online.
“It started when Trish Cutler posted an offhand comment about visiting the UK and finding so much less litter than in the US,” said Stachera Simon. “In the course of this thread, we found that we shared a lot of frustration and anger about places getting trashed and decided to do something about it.”
They’ve gone out every week for the past few months for about an hour at a time, depending on the heat of the day. They typically fill one to two bags per person, take the trash to the South Central Solid Waste Authority (SCSWA) Transfer Station, drop off the glass for recycling, and donate aluminum cans to Cat's Meow Adoption Center, which recycles cans for cash to help with veterinary costs. Recently, they’ve picked up free fresh yellow reflective vests from Doña Ana County to help increase their visibility on the sides of the road.
“It feels so disrespectful when a cactus is shrouded in a big old plastic bag. The cactus deserves better,” said Stachera Simon. “When I pick up trash, I think to myself, that's one less thing that could hurt an animal.”
Anyone interested in helping can email Stachera Simon at goodwordforyou@yahoo.com or find her on Facebook.
The South Central Solid Waste Authority (SCSWA) can be contacted 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. at 575-528-3800 Monday – Friday or visit www.SCSWA.net
