Falcon Eyes: Trash-talking 'litter-acy' Published Dec. 3, 2009 By Capt. Wade Wheeler 10th Medical Operations Squadron U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Several months ago, 10th Air Base Wing leadership unveiled the Falcon Eyes program, focused on base appearance, improvement and excellence in which everyone at the Academy can get involved. The program stresses personal responsibility from a "good housekeeping" perspective along with a common-sense approach to base-wide cleanliness and maintenance. The simple and effective motto of the Falcon Eyes program is: look, identify, act and follow up. Let's all stress the importance of this base-wide program and focus our "falcon eyes" on one specific area: trash and litter. With all the base personnel who live and work here and more than 1 million visitors to the Academy each year, the problems of trash and litter are inescapable. Littering and overflowing garbage bins not only threaten our pristine image but have lasting ill effects on our environment. Have you ever felt proud to be associated with such a beautiful place as the Air Force Academy? Do you enjoy watching the sun set behind the mountains in the afternoon and watching wildlife as they cross the road? Litter, whether intentional or not, has no place on our pristine installation. With so many people frequenting our Academy, littering can be a big problem. High winds we often get here can knock over unsecured trash cans in both the residential and business areas on base, but unfortunately, intentional littering can be a problem as well. This mainly comes from people who may not have the sense of pride in our prestigious installation that we Falcons have in common. We also have a shared responsibility as Falcons to keep our base clean and litter-free. Not only should we not litter, but we should go out of our way to pick up litter when we see it. Our Air Force Academy is an amazing and picturesque place to live, work and visit. Keeping it pristine takes ongoing diligence from each of us. The Falcon Eyes program challenges us and reminds us all of our personal responsibility to take pride in ourselves and our Air Force Academy. It belongs to all of us--let's take care of it and take pride in our home. HOW YOU CAN HELP -- Don't walk by trash. When you see it, pick it up. Keep your falcon eyes alert and help "falcon-ize" our beautiful base. -- Guard against accumulation. Are you recycling? We can significantly reduce waste products such as used bottles, plastics, paper and cardboard by using the base recycling center located in the Community Center parking lot. For more information on the Academy recycling program, visit http://www.usafa.af.mil/information/baseinfo/environment.asp. -- Buy in bulk so you don't have to discard as much packaging, and reuse items like plastic cups, utensils and plastic bags. -- Reduce the amount of paper you use at work and at home by printing on both sides of the paper.