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Show fouling our own nest Environmental pollution is a people problem, as . well as an industrial problem.Wh.ile we demand that industry do something about polluting air and water, , we should go a step farther and crack down on the individual polluters who number in the tens of millions. The National Academy of Sciences, in coopera- . tion with the highway departments of 29 states has just completed a study. It shows a lot of people aren't nearly as concerned about pollution as they profess ; to be. Each month, American motorists drop an aver- age of 1,304 pieces of trash on every mile of the na- . tion's vast network of primary highways nearly 16,000 pieces per mile per year. Paper accounted for 59 per cent of total roadside litter. The nest was tabulate! tab-ulate! at 16 per cent cans, 6 per cent plastic items, 6 per cent bottles and jars and 13 per cent miscellaneous. The large miscellaneous grouping included tires, lumber and a variety of unclassified items ranging from hair curlers, underwear and false teeth to ice chests and washing machines. This is the work of a public that, judging'by press accounts, is calling for instant solutions to all of our environmental problems. |