I started working in the Tech Brewery in Ann Arbor a little over a year ago. My house is less than ten minutes away, so I walk pretty much every day.

The path to work goes down some steps in the woods, crosses a busy street, goes through a park, and then a quiet residential neighborhood. It's an extremely relaxing way to start my day.

I recently got back from a three month stay in Costa Rica. Costa Rica has a trash problem— they aren't a big country, so there's not much room for huge landfills and such like we have in the U.S.

As a result, there's trash everywhere— on the street, in the gutters, the sidewalks, etc. I often felt like picking it up— but as there are rarely
public trash cans, I just didn't have a place to put it.

For some reason, now that I'm back home, I still feel compelled to pick up trash. I've been grabbing a bag each morning on my walk to work.

Every single day, that trash bag has been full to bursting before I've even reached the Tech Brewery. It is shocking how much trash I've walked by, for an entire year, without bothering to pick it up.

Makes me wonder, as a developer, how much bad code I see every day and do nothing about. I wonder how much better at my job I would be if I just
refactored a small grocery bag's worth each day.