Napa Valley Community Voices: Keep Napa Beautiful

Don't be a litterbug! Anyone old enough to remember the public service announcement, subsequently dubbed the "Crying Indian Ad," launched in 1971, against littering and polluting, will also recall the enormity of its impact at the time. In 1971, I was a young Boy Scout, and making the planet a better place to live was very much on brand (well maybe except for the bedroom I shared with my brother Stephen!)

In the ad, we see an actor dressed as a Native American paddling a canoe down a beautiful and clean stream, but then, as he progresses toward a city, the stream becomes dirtier and littered with refuse. In the final frames, he gazes upon an interstate highway, teeming with polluting vehicles; a window rolls down and garbage is ejected, some landing on his moccasins. A voice says, "People start pollution; People can stop it."

Watched today, it's a little flimsy, but the imagery and messaging have not diminished. Ironically, the ad was a masterful example of corporate greenwashing, presented as a PSA from the nonprofit, Keep America Beautiful.

In this particular case, corporations asked KAB to help campaign against the government's plan to require that all bottles be made recyclable or reusable. Throwaway bottles were cheaper. The ad has the effect of deflecting blame for littering and polluting away from industry and big business and onto individuals.

Pretty cheeky! That being said, why should littering be blamed on one or the other of these disparate groups? Certainly we can agree that both corporate "bad actors" as well as individual "litterbugs" (also a term KAB invented, in the 1950s) have always co-existed.

I live in the Abajo section of the city of Napa, in historic downtown. I, along with a cadre of like-minded neighbors, have undertaken a daily ritual of picking up the litter left at corners, along sidewalk gutters, between parked cars, even in the middle of the road.

Litter is ugly, unhealthy, unsafe and generally reflects poor citizenship. You might suppose that its root cause is the unhoused population in the area, but that's not true. Most unhoused in our area live in vehicles and store their refuse until such time they choose to throw it out, and then use nearby receptacles. A receptacle is visible no more than 20 feet from anywhere in our neighborhood.

At least the litter issue is one I can remedy (but not prevent) on my own with a pair of gloves, my "EZ picker" grabber tool, and a trash bag. Far more frustrating is the recurrent "illegal dumping" of large household items onto our streets. Each Monday at around 8 a.m., when I return from walking our amazing Labrador, Magic, I call the Napa Public Works "illegal dumping" hotline at 707-257-9520, and report the location and items that need retrieving.

At our expense, Napa contracts with Napa Recycling and Waste Services or with a third party, who see to its proper disposal. I am talking about mattresses, box springs, dining room sets, dressers, bureaus, couches, love seats, Barcaloungers, refrigerators, washer/dryers, dishwashers, ovens, microwaves, barbecues, boxes of old personal items, baby cribs, car seats and strollers, and on and on.

Rarely are these items in good enough condition to be reused, and the folks purging these unwanted possessions are not so naive as to not realize it. Sometimes I ask myself, by arranging for their disposal, if I am reinforcing the behavior I seek to extinguish? Quite honestly, these neighbors are avoiding the costs of properly disposing of these large items, are sticking taxpayers with the bill, and the neighborhood with the unsightliness. Occasionally, signs accompany the refuse, saying, "free."

It would be far better to make a sign that reads, "Free Now! Tomorrow it'll be taken to the dump." I have never seen a pile of stuff with a "free" sign revisited by the persons who placed it, and subsequently disposed of properly after sufficient time has passed.

What can be done?

Is it time again for anti-littering/anti-dumping PSAs? Nothing wrong with that idea, particularly for the littering issue. We can all of us do our part to keep our streets clean and safe. I walk Magic downtown everyday and see proprietors washing down or sweeping the sidewalk in front of their establishments. It's just good sense to want to look inviting to others, and we should all have a bit of civic pride and want to make our neighborhood look its best.

I have heard from City Council members that the (slogan) "Slow Down Napa" campaign has been hugely successful. "Keep Napa Beautiful" signs would serve, but I must admit I would prefer the snarkiness, with apologies to the late former mayor of New York City, Ed Koch, of something like, "Don't Even Think of Littering Here."

The dumping problem will not get solved by a catchy slogan, unfortunately. It will not be enough to appeal to our better angels. It's not possible to catch the perps in real time responsible for dumping large items without massive video surveillance of the streets.

That's a scarier proposition than a few ratty Barcaloungers and couches on them. Rather, I think the council will need to rework city ordinances, with assistance from legal counsel, to enable the city to automatically levy fines against the owners of the properties that these items are left in front of. It's one idea, a simple and efficient one, but in all honesty, I am sure someone can think of a better one.

This is not my bailiwick. I think it would be nice in the future to call Napa Public Works, and say, "Good Morning, remember me? Well, nothing to report!"