Common Senses Experience? Excerpts

"One man's trash is another man's treasure." Really?

This saying might apply to those walking down the beach with their metal detectors, or it might resonate with Flea Market shoppers, but I'm talking here about trash. Real trash. The kind that is crumpled up and thrown in the hallway or the bushes or next to the can after a failed three-point attempt.??

I remember years ago listening to the amazing Paul Wiles (CEO Novant Health, retired.) as he addressed our leadership team and elaborated on our newly minted service standards. He told us all that he fully expected NOBODY in our 24,000-strong organization would ever walk past a piece of trash and assume someone else would take care of it. It was our responsibility to (a) pick it up and get rid of it or (b) find someone who could if circumstances prevented it.

It was impressed upon me at a very early age that litterbugs are just barely above bottom-dwelling organisms that deserve to remain at the bottom of the nature chain. It's pretty extreme looking back, but it was a message nonetheless. As a result, I have found myself picking up and discarding litter my whole life. Once, in a moment of vigilante frustration, I took it to a severe level. I was driving behind a guy in a Jeep along Panama City Beach, Florida. He threw a Burger King bag and drink cup to the side of the road. I couldn't believe it. I pulled over and picked it up, along with about six other pieces of trash. He was still in sight on the road ahead. I tailed until I saw him pull into one of the hundred or so beach bars. As he was walking to the establishment, I grabbed his trash and that of others of its kind and placed it ALL in the front seat of his Jeep.?

Looking back, I am not so proud of that moment. Okay, I may be a little. But I didn't like people trashing up my beautiful beaches, and they had to pay! Today, I have more of a level head and less time at the beach. I would still pull over, but I would likely grab it and find the next receptacle.?

When our guests and team members see trash around, they will likely form all kinds of conclusions. It matters little if they are accurate; they are still their impressions, such as, Does the presence of trash, no matter how small or big, mean that we don't care about cleanliness in a place where cleanliness can be the difference in outcomes??

During your various journeys during the days and nights of work, you might run across trash of all kinds. With few exceptions (e.g., old cars, hazardous waste, ex-husbands, or the kitchen sink), most can be picked up and permanently thrown away. Keep a pair of plastic gloves with you to keep the infection control concerns and excuses at bay.?

Don't walk by trash and assume a litter buster will be somewhere after you. They might make the same assumption, and that piece of trash is nothing but littered good intentions.?

Be a trash hawk. Please don't wait for it to reveal itself. Look for it. You will find it in AT LEAST the following places, guaranteed:

• Around the very trash receptacles they were intended to be dropped in. Usually, it's the result of a missed throw. It's natural; even the best outside shooters only have about a 50% success rate.
• Outside, in the bushes.
• Parking lots. Everywhere in parking lots. The trash in cars is like pets in the morning. When a door is open, they jump out and run.
• Bathroom receptacles. This one is a particular problem in Men's bathrooms. I've witnessed this my entire life when entering and leaving public restrooms. Guys will especially grab the paper towels (yes, some bathrooms still have them) and, after drying off, will toss them in the general vicinity of the trash can. They think it is more like darts than trash disposal. As long as it's close, they figure others give them the benefit of the doubt.

The big tip:

1. Keep a few disposable gloves in your pocket, purse, or backpack.
2. Put one on during your trip in or out of the place.
3. Have one handy as you meander the halls and check out the nooks and crannies (that is just fun to say, even if I have no idea what they are).

Your litter buster activity is sure to catch on.