Alan Greenblatt is a GOVERNING correspondent.
E-mail: mailbox@governing.comTwitter: @governing
Free Riders
Commuters in Washington, as in many other big cities, are often handed free tabloid newspapers nowadays. For some reason, the freebies generate more litter than old-fashioned newspapers that cost 35 or 50 cents.
Certainly you see castaway classified and sports sections abandoned on subway floors now and again. But every day when I ride Metro I see several or even dozens of copies of the free papers left behind.
Metro provides not just garbage but newspaper recycling canisters at all its stations. Is there something about the type of people who take free papers that makes them less likely to care about their surroundings? Or is there something about the quality of the papers themselves that makes them seem less worth the bother of carrying off the train?
Photo via Flickr, from StevenErat.
Written and compiled by staff writers and editors, GOVERNING View is an on-the-ground, and sometimes behind-the-scenes, look at the topics we're covering in print and online. From notes on what's up in statehouses, county courthouses and city halls, to encounters with people, places and things, GOVERNING View is a window into the side of state and local government you don't always see.
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
YouTube
Flickr
RSS
© 2011 e.Republic, Inc. All Rights reserved. | 