lets keep okinawa clean

[ststephen65]

while magazines like okinawa living and the like more and more of my fav "secret" spots in okinawa are coming under attack with a flood of american military. while there is nothing wrong with this at all i am becoming tired of carrying out everyones AAFES bags and budlight cans. i know it isnt only us(foreigners) but lets try setting the standered.

what prompts me to say this was a cpl weekends ago i was at one of my fav spots, Aha falls. i was swiming around at one of the lower falls and i met a group of military guys. on our way back there was a empty beer can, the same brand the group i met was drinking, i asked if it was one of theirs and relunctantly one of the guys said yeah and picked it up. well a cpl hours later we where leaving and wouldnt you know, where that same group was there was 2 whole aafes bags full of trash left behind. this was from one group! i always make a point when i go anywhere to carry more trash out then i came with. i would hate to see some of these places go to shit

[dk]

That really sucks. These people came to Aha falls because of the beauty, I'm sure, and then were dumb enough to not even think that leaving their cans behind might be a bad thing?...

And like you said, Americans aren't the only ones doing this. Back when I used to hang out on the beaches around the island, I was always amazed at how much trash the locals would leave behind.

In both of these stories...
These people go to these places because they're beautiful...
And then don't have the common decency to clean up.

Probably one reason I just don't like people all that much. :p

[coldnoodles]

Thats why we don't like people that much. I can't stand people rude and disrespectful.

Most places in Okinawa don't have garbage cans everywhere, you have to take your trash with you. When we use to go to Toguchi beach there is always american guys so rude and disrespectful to the Japnese people. I have seen people throw their trash under Japanese cars, on the beach, in the bushes, and in the water.

[DougP]

That's why some of us do a little cleaning out there(beach) on the weekends. :)
If it feels like home treat as such right? :)

Weekly beach cleaning FTW

[ststephen65]

ya know, ive actually been thinking of writing okinawa living and the outdoor okinawa mag a letter about this. they always put these places in the spot light but i dont hink they have ever mentioned the trash

[DoctorP]

You should do it...I complained to AAFES for years about recycle bins and they are just now starting to put them in!

[P_chan]

My buddy was the original organizer of the gate 2 street clean up! Our first one was on a sunday back in april of 06. Now ACE (airman committed to excellence:rolleyes:) has taken it over and made it their bastard love child. All without even giving us any credit! But hey, he still runs the show and it's still doing some good!

[Muku]

Most places in Okinawa don't have garbage cans everywhere, you have to take your trash with you.

First are you trying to say, Most places in Okinawa dont have garbage cans?

That's a fact and there is a great reason for it as well. If you put a garbage can in these locations the garbage will just pile up, and people generally speaking will not separate the trash.

There is a park near my house, there used to be garbage cans there, and when there were cans all sorts of garbage was dumbed there, including household appliances and other stuff that would cost money to have taken away as trash. (Different story there about costs related to trash removal) It got really bad, trash pickup is only a couple of times a week so the trash just sits there, stinks, bugs, rats, the usual gathering of cockroaches, well I'm sure everyone here gets the idea.

Take away the garbage cans and the worst now is the people who smoke and throw their butts away. Day and night difference. No garbage things are cleaned up.

People are expected to take it with them, the uneducated idiots and assholes that just toss it and leave it are showing their lack of education and are damn ignorant lesser species, I wont qualify them as human because usually humans "think" before they act. They were probably raised in an environment where their parents, Mom, wiped their asses until they were 25 or so, meaning someone was constantly picking up after them, they never learned about taking care of things for themselves. And arrogance too.

It's not just the US Military that pull shit like throwing trash all over either there are plenty of Okinawan's and Japanese that do it as well. It's island wide.

[Boost]

It is a sad situation overall. Like dk said, you go to these places because they are beautiful and then you trash it by leaving your garbage?? Just doesn't make sense to me, but I guess what do I know?

I do think it's great, the organizations that arrange clean ups and such. I remember taking part in several of them while there, and it usually was a pretty good time for a good cause.

[P_chan]

You should see my apartment complex. My apartment complex used to be really nice. Until the young army guys moved in. Now there is trash everywhere! Their friends come over and leave beer bottles on the steps. Oh and they just throw everything in the trash. Right now there is a kids bike that has been there forever, as well as a broken glass end table, some big ass box, and lawn furniture. My next door neighbor puts his trash outside his door and it sits there for a week before he takes it downstairs. Now he just added a broken microwave outside his door. Oh and his trash is always blowing in front of my door. It amazes me how inconsiderate my neighbors are.