Just Sayin’: Let’s keep our beaches litter-free

So many bugs are at the beach. Litterbugs, that is. While they don’t bite or sting, they’re still invasive.

Unfortunately, not everyone treats our beautiful beaches with the respect they deserve. Every spring, I enjoy an early-morning walk along the shore. I admire the cleanliness of our beautiful beaches. But as the season unfolds, the amount of trash littered daily gets to be out of control.

On one morning walk, before the clean-up crew arrived, I was especially appalled. Trash was left everywhere. While a trash bin may not be near a person’s blanket, bins are visible as people exit.

It isn’t right to leave empty bottles, cans and other trash — especially soiled diapers — for someone else to clean up. Our beaches deserve common courtesy. We can do better.

— Debbie Castellane, North Massapequa

In 1971, I was impressed with an Earth Day public service commercial on TV. It showed an actor portraying a Native American man exiting a canoe and shedding a tear as he looked over a shoreline littered with trash.

If we could teach our children not to litter as youngsters, it would be a tremendous lesson that could foster a life of respect for the environment. It would have a major impact.

Unfortunately, many of today’s children are learning the bad habits of their parents. That couldn’t be clearer than in the “South Pacific” lyrics that say, “You’ve got to be taught to hate.”

— Anthony Bruno, Babylon

Different views on a Black male in U.S.

As a Black male growing up in this country, I wholeheartedly agree with Tedra Grant’s views [“Thinking about my son’s safety,” Opinion, April 22].

In fact, I once unintentionally entered the wrong apartment and also got into the wrong car. Both instances took place quite a few years ago, when the phenomenon of “shooting first and asking questions later” was not so prevalent. There is a good chance that I might not be alive today had these instances taken place in the current crazy…