The Chuck Wagon will be on the prowl throughout Wake County looking for people respecting the can. If Chuck sees you (and he doesn’t miss much with those eyes…) you may win some 86ables as a reward for taking pride in your community. After all, the only thing that hurts worse than paying $4.00 per gallon for gas is seeing litter all over the roads.

Have you seen the Chuck Wagon around town? Tell us where.

This conjured up memories of my own experience in Safety Patrol back in 6th grade.  I had water fountain duty and yelled “No Water!” as kids walked to the bus loop.  I was a very shy 6th grader, so this was the worst assignment for me.  Every time my back was turned, the water fountain was mobbed. I longed for bike rack duty.  At least once a week, someone would ask the dreaded question, “Why?” to which I had no answer other than “Because I said so.”  It didn’t work when their parents said it, and it sure didn’t work when I said it (well, actually I mumbled it, but that’s beside the point).  The truth was, I didn’t really know why.  I realize now that I was keeping kids from missing their bus in the afternoon.  But no one ever told me that, and I was too busy thinking about New Kids on the Block to think of it on my own, so I stuck with “because I said so.”

Thankfully, the Litter Patrol is taking a different approach.  From the start, the students weren’t assigned jobs around campus and told to shout orders.  Liani empowered the students by letting them decide how their patrol would function.  They spent a lot of time discussing why they thought a litter free school was important and how they wanted to get that message across to their peers.  With guidance from Liani and their advisor Stacy Kessler, the students developed a year-long action plan that includes clean-ups, education, and positive reinforcement. One of the ideas they came up with was to reward students for not littering. From now on, when a member of the Litter Patrol observes another student Respecting the Can, that student will receive an 86it certificate.  Rather than focus on the negative behavior, the students chose to highlight positive behavior.

So let’s give three cheers to Harris Creek’s Litter Patrol and their advisor Stacy Kessler!  We look forward to hearing more of their adventures during the year.

Let’s use “86it” as our rallying cry. And “Respect the Can” as the underline and exclamation point of our passion to keep Wake County litter free. Search our site and get to know us. Order some 86it regalia and demonstrate your 86it prowess whenever possible.

By all means give us your suggestions. We want to keep the dialogue as positive as possible, as we’re not a community of finger-pointers and glass-half-emptiers. Momentum is crucial to movement and we need your force to get it going. Welcome to 86it. Charge!