Pick it up !
Nothing but an reminder, to get active when you walk in nature and find trash, that people left. I have a bag with me where ever I go and made it a habit to pick up what I can get to. Shaking your head and complain loudly will not bring back those who dropped the trash and have them take it away. In the meantime animals can get hurt by bottles, cans, wires, plastic stuff and what ever people throw away.
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This Anhinga 
will starve to death – unless he’s caught with a net and the fishing lines around his bill are removed. His attempts to get rid of them had been unsuccessful so far – maybe there’s a hook in there as well. Hence – go and Pick it up! Thanks for reading! And if you want to join and pledge, to take part in taking care of the nature that was loaned to you – sign up! And comment! P.S.: I know that you will have trouble to remove say – an old bike, an old barrel etc. Aside from maybe notifying park authorities – or whoever might be in charge – I’m talking about the things we can do, but more often than not – don’t. The bottle here, the can there, the plastic wrapper and so on. No biggie for us. But a biggie for nature! If you would like the "Pick it up" Badge on your site – you can download a zipfile below, containing the code, image and instruction. 
Pick it up Zipfile (rightclick and save as)
For those at blogger or wordpress hosted sites it might be easier though, to use this button:
Just copy the code below and place it on your site – if you want to. Just remember! This is not a
crusade, out to shame those who are thoughtless – it is about the actions each individual can take.
3:43 am on June 21st, 2008
this picture is very, very sad, i am sorry to say. Sadder are the
people who have no decency, sense of responsibility or common sense… i truly am sickened by some of the images, but appreciate your posts of these nontheless…
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11:25 am on June 25th, 2008
Your advice is very good and necessary! Thanks for reminding us of the necessity to throw garbage in a bin.
Readerwils last blog post..W for Water, Wind and Windmills…
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2:20 am on June 27th, 2008
Thanks for your visit and I hope that many people visit yours and follow your request to pick rubbish up!
Readerwils last blog post..Sky Watch Sunset
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7:17 pm on June 28th, 2008
Great post!
BirdAnons last blog post..Anti Clockwise
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4:30 pm on July 10th, 2008
Sounds like something all birders should be doing and I’ll make sure to pass the word on!!
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12:46 pm on July 17th, 2008
It breaks my heart to see the bird with a fishing line around his bill. Very sad indeed but I am very grateful to you showing pictures on your blog.
I am fighting a loosing battle with trash along our shoreline of Lake Ontario, Canada. Year after year picking up trash other people leave behind is very tiresome.
Please visit my blog and read earlier entries.
Thank you,
Gisela
guild-rezs last blog post..SKY WATCH FRIDAY
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6:49 pm on August 9th, 2008
It makes me mad to see carbage in the wood, I found some over 60 km in the forest. It is so easy to bring it back and disposed of it properly.
Visit André Lemays last blog post..THE BIRD AND THE BEE – L’OISEAU ET L’ABEILLE on http://www.andrelemay.blogspot.com
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10:45 am on August 12th, 2008
The pictures of the animals endangered by this trash brings the point home. It never ceases to amaze me how many people want to enjoy the beauty then trash it for the next person to come along so they can’t.
Visit 2sweetnsaxys last blog post..Little Green Spider on http://eyesmindheart.blogspot.com
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5:01 pm on August 21st, 2008
I’m glad to see someone else doing something like this. Anytime I go camping in a primitive area of a state park I always find myself packing out an extra bag of trash. I’m amazed how many people leave bottles, cigarette butts and other items carelessly behind to destroy the beauty.
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1:17 pm on September 8th, 2008
Great idea! some friends and I caught a seagull and cut off some fishing line that was tying his feet together (just yesterday!)
Visit Jen Beavens last blog post..believe it or not, another bird story on http://pengcognito.livejournal.com
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10:52 am on September 9th, 2008
Thanks for this great banner; I had to figure out how to put it on my sidebar but it’s there now. I am always packing trash out on our hikes or walks. I just do it – ever since I was a child.
Visit Quietpathss last blog post..Garden star on http://quietpaths.com
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3:45 pm on September 11th, 2008
I just put the badge on my site and will write about it shortly. Thanks for this. By the way I really like you images and blog.
Cheers
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6:01 am on September 14th, 2008
[...] Pick it Up!: Are you a birder who hates seeing trash in the marsh? Garbage in the woods? Do you Pick It Up? [...]
2:37 pm on September 18th, 2008
Sound advice to all, thank you and remember to recycle the rubbish which will not end up in Landfill ,where the same problem will occur.
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9:36 am on October 30th, 2008
This is a great idea, and you bet I’m taking it on.
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10:06 pm on October 30th, 2008
I have a friend who refers to people who pass by litter on the ground, as second hand litterers.
She’s a girl scout leader, and I think that it’s great that she puts it into not only the girls heads, but also adults, that it’s not OK to just walk past that paper. Pick it up!
She actually encourages the adults to carry around an extra bag so that the girls have someplace appropriate to place the trash they’re no longer passing up
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Klaus
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October 30th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
@abby: That’s great – and the right way to go!
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1:38 am on December 5th, 2008
Thank you for the eye-opener and the initiative. I am always particular about not littering and trying to inculcate the same in my 3 year old boy Krrish. But I have never picked up what others are throwing around. It’s worse than you can imagine in Mumbai, with women littering more than men.
In the ladies compartment in the local train, women buy oranges, pomegranates and wafers from hawkers and eat right there, throwing the peel right at their own feet. Scolding them and making them understand doesn’t help. I have seen some educated office-goers also doing that.
But now after registering my name here, I will carry an extra bag and pick up what the woman sitting next to me throws around. I hope I can shame them in this way and lessen littering in the city. I will post a feedback about this on my blog after a couple of weeks of picking up.
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4:55 pm on January 1st, 2009
These pictures are so sad…
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1:07 am on January 3rd, 2009
sizi alk??l?yorum,kutluyorum ba?ar?lar diliyorum…
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Klaus
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January 3rd, 2009 at 8:20 am
Hi Dinc,
Could not really read it completely. Wishing a happy new year, is it?
Right back at you! Cheers, Klaus
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7:36 pm on January 16th, 2009
A sad sad picture of that beautiful bird! I live in Oslo/Norway, and see a lot of trash when I walk in the woods nead by. Since I have a dog, I do that a lot. And its sad to see all the things people leave behind. My dog hurt his foot once, beacause of a broken bottle. Great initiativ – I will try to follow! And next time I find something, I will take a picture of it and post it on my blog – linkin to this page! (I allready have the link on my page – but not related to a posting.)
Greetings from Norway!
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6:35 pm on January 27th, 2009
It saddens me that people here in my world aren’t that conscious of what and where they throw their trash. For me, it is just a matter of self-discipline and a little respect to what mother nature is lending us. Duh! so, I’m signing up and I don’t mind picking up others’ litters nor becoming a laughing stock.
I’m signing up.
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7:50 pm on January 30th, 2009
Good idea, and thanks for making it easy to use.
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3:43 pm on February 21st, 2009
Thank you for doing ‘Pick it up’ and giving us the chance to join in. We have but one world and we all need to take care of it. Walk softly and mind our footprints too;)
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9:32 pm on February 27th, 2009
Great idea!
Paz
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8:13 pm on February 28th, 2009
It’s incredible how irresponsible people can be everywhere!
And it’s so easy to do things right for our OWN planet!
I’m happy to join “Pick it up!”
Romicas
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11:58 am on March 2nd, 2009
[...] leave behind in places of nature are harmful and even deadly to the animals. He has started a Pick it Up pledge, encouraging those who want to participate to pick up trash they see left behind by [...]
11:16 pm on March 20th, 2009
It is so sad to see those birds and animals suffer from the mess we create.
I always put trash in a trash can but I have never made a conscious effort to pick up trash someone else left. I will start doing this and we can all make a difference.
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2:46 pm on March 21st, 2009
im a bit sad after seeing those pictures of animals suffering from what human beings have created …which also kinda reminded me of someone i saw picking up trash near a lake months ago , i was really moved at that point. i decided to be part of it , its a small action we can take to make a big difference in our world , thanks for sharing …
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4:51 pm on March 21st, 2009
Here is TN it is hunting time and so many people with no experience go out into the woods, pollute the water, leave their garbage behind and my seven year old daughter and I have started running them off and cleaning up all around our area. She has so many cans now that she understands the need for them to be recycled and the bonus for her is she gets to keep all of the money from recycling the cans!
People that throw cans anywhere but in the bins made for them is what is really wrong with this Country.
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7:02 pm on March 22nd, 2009
You say that this is not a “movement” but why not? If everyone would practice a bit of personal and social responsibility, the world would be a much better place for all of the creatures that inhabit it.
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Klaus
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March 22nd, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Hi Pam,
What I don’t want it to be is the moral finger pointing, a sort of pushy initiative, making you feel bad, if you don’t join in. The whole concept centers around the idea, that it is so easy to do something and have an immediate effect. Nobody
gains something if you’re mad about those, who dropped their trash, if you yourself don’t act. Those who did it are long gone, not coming back, to remedy their stupidity.
So if it becomes a real movement – no one would be happier than me.
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5:08 pm on March 25th, 2009
This is great reminder to us all how to behave. Personaly I don’t throw trash in the nature, ever. Picking up somebody elses is a drag but if you pick up one piece of trash every day it’s not too much to ask. I’m all for it. Peace out!
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12:31 am on March 27th, 2009
Hi Klaus,
There is nothing worse than seeing defenceless animals in distress especially when caused by ignorant people discarding their rubbish, and this image really brings it home.
I sincerely hope it was caught and freed from the fishing line around its bill, and is now living the life it should, free.
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12:09 pm on March 28th, 2009
Great idea to have this little linking button available for a good cause.
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7:14 pm on April 14th, 2009
Leave only footprints…and never give up. Please.
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3:28 pm on April 20th, 2009
Wonderful idea! I live near the shore and I make an effort to pick up and discard harmful items I see that others leave behind, especially the plastic six pack rings.
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1:04 pm on April 28th, 2009
Fortunately where I live, a lot of people do ‘pick it up’ and most don’t litter in the first place. Not only does it prevent harm to wildlife, it makes for a far nicer living environment for people as well.
Kudos Klaus for ‘Pick it Up’ site and for the photos to illustrate its meaning.
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4:21 pm on April 29th, 2009
An important message and these photos show only too well what needs to be done. As one who cares about preserving all the beauty that nature brings to this world, I have added your “Pick-It-Up” badge to my blog. Thank you Klaus for reinforcing an issue that needs to be addressed.
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12:50 am on May 15th, 2009
This is so important..My husband is our neighborhood ‘trash’ guy. He picks up the trash along the street and combs the pond for garbage that has been thrown in..People are so thoughtless and wildlife pay….Michelle
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3:47 pm on May 22nd, 2009
I had taken a nice shot of a Limpkin and was so disppointed when I looked at it on the computer…2 items of trash. I will start carrying a bag with me whenever I dingy around looking for something to photograph.
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3:55 pm on May 22nd, 2009
I just added the “Pick it Up” link to my blog. Good Idea..thanks.
http://www.wildlifearoundus.blogspot.com
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2:41 pm on June 12th, 2009
I’ve added it to my 3 blogs. http://www.riverwildlife.blogspot.com and http://www.alwayslingerawhile.blogspot.com and http://www.wildlifearoundus.blogspot.com
I now carry a bag with me when ever I am on the river. I once saw an Anhinga flying with a 15′ piece of fishline trailing behind. I know at some point it will either tangle on something or shut off the circulation. We now carry nippers in our dingy and cut all the bobbers and line from the bushes. We have a nice collection …we might actually have to start fishing one of these days.
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8:00 pm on June 13th, 2009
Got to your site via my friend Paz in NYC. Thanks for the Pick it Up! widget. It’s going on my photo blog right now.
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