LSU students who like to go for scenic jogs or walks around the University Lakes owe a thanks to 84-year-old Randy Peterson, who has been cleaning up litter around the area for 47 years.

Since Peterson moved to Baton Rouge from a small town in Illinois, he has taken up the job of patrolling the lakes with a trash bag and litter stick in hand to make the area a more pleasant space for both visitors and residents. He goes on these walks at least two or three times a week, usually filling up two trash bags each time. Peterson said there is noticeably more trash now than there was when he started picking it up.

“I used to walk around the whole lake and not get anything,” Peterson said. “Now I can fill up two trash bags every time.”

Peterson didn’t make a habit of cleaning up trash when he was living by the Mississippi River in Illinois, but was inspired to start when he moved to Louisiana and saw how bad the problem was.

“Just living here and seeing how bad it is, and it’s getting worse,” Peterson said. “It’s amazing how I can go two days in a row and still fill up my bags. It’s awful.”

Peterson uses a grabbing tool with a handle to make the pickup easier. He ordered the grabber tool online for only $15, and has now collected multiple tools of different lengths.

The majority of the trash appears to come from people passing through and throwing garbage out of their car window.

“It’s not the neighbors that do it,” Peterson says. “It’s people that are just driving by, and they throw it out the window.”

Peterson also said that people tend to feel better about throwing trash in an already heavily littered area.

“My theory is people won’t leave trash if it’s really clean, because it will look bad,” Peterson said. “But if there’s a lot of trash there already, people don’t feel bad about adding to it.”

The residents near City Park Lake are concerned with the growing amount of garbage, but are appreciative to Peterson for doing his part.

“After there was an article about me that came out [in the Advocate], the next day six people came out and thanked me,” Peterson said. “Some people just come up to me and say, ‘Hey, I’ve seen you walking around the lakes and I just want to thank you.’ That’s always nice.”

The community around City Park Lake seems to be close-knit, and Peterson knows all his neighbors by name. This is a large part of the reason why Peterson loves the Baton Rouge area and says he would not want to live anywhere else.

While Peterson is on the lakes’ litter patrol most frequently, he occasionally receives help from neighbors, friends and University groups who spend the day there. He encourages everyone to come out and help, but said he also appreciates the time to himself on some days.

“It’s good exercise, and it’s beautiful outside,” Peterson said. “I think City Park Lake is the most beautiful spot in Baton Rouge.”

Although most people might be quick to blame large companies that use plastic, Peterson says that they aren’t the real culprit.

“I love plastic,” Peterson said. “Plastic is helping all of us. It’s the people blaming the companies who throw their trash out the window. Coca-Cola didn’t do anything wrong. They sold a nice product.”

Peterson is not supportive of states like New York and California who have recently placed a ban on plastic straws. He pointed out there were only about four or five plastic straws among his two bags of trash combined.

“Those states want to say they’re doing something to help, but in my opinion, it doesn’t really help that much,” Peterson said.

Seattle became the first major city to enact a ban on plastic straws in 2018, and since then, many large cities have followed suit. Starbucks and McDonald’s are also in the process of phasing out plastic straw usage in response to public outcry. Although plastic straws are a major source of ocean pollution, Peterson said there is a better way to fix the problem.

The biggest thing the community can do to support Peterson’s work is to educate kids and teach them to throw their trash away in a trash can or recycle. Peterson is passionate about the issue, and he said he has a plan on how to reduce littering in the Baton Rouge area.

The first step of his plan involves parents teaching kids not to throw trash out the window, and the second step is for that same message to be repeated by teachers at schools. Peterson also said he would like to see more school projects involving students looking for solutions to the pollution problem. Lastly, Peterson encourages people to go to Walmart, purchase a grabbing tool and pick up the trash themselves.

As of right now, Peterson plans to continue his work cleaning up the lakes for as long as he can.

“It’s getting more difficult,” Peterson said. “It’s getting harder to walk around both lakes, so I walk mostly around City Park Lake more now.”

Despite the growing amount of trash, Peterson remains optimistic about the future.                         

“There are a lot of efforts,” Peterson said. “Teaching our kids is the first step.”