Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Our tiny little Earth Day activity

So Lynne and I set out yesterday afternoon to clean up "our" part of Indian Creek Road. We've walked many, many miles together there, and for such a tiny little road – one-lane, paved, only about four miles long – there's an astonishing amount of discarded trash. We decided a few weeks ago that we would take a stab at it on Earth Day.

Our time was limited; we went about a mile and a half, filling four kitchen-sized trash bags along the way. We found nothing unusual or out of the ordinary. Lots of plastic bottles and soda cans. And beer bottles. Lots of beer bottles. I'm not sure why someone thought it was a good idea to toss the plastic bag from a package of hot dog buns.

Actually I'm not sure why anyone ever thinks it's a good idea to throw trash onto the side of the road.

We spent about 90 minutes honoring Mother Earth, from the time we started until we got back to our cars. As our bags became too heavy to carry, we tied them up and dropped them along the side of the road. I went back to pick them up to be put out on trash day. We could have separated things for recycling, but oh, my, that would have been a nasty job.

If you follow me on Facebook, you more than likely saw the photo I posted. I took Lynne's picture first, then she took mine and then I smashed them together in Photoshop. Isn't technology great? Heh. (And if you don't follow me on Facebook, why not?!?)

We haven't schedule a date for the rest of the road pick-up, but I can tell you we both felt pretty good about doing something, however small, to save the planet. It was, perhaps, a bit selfish, since it's not a major highway or byway, but instead is where WE like to walk. But maybe a resident or two who passed by or saw us from a window will think twice before hurling that can out the window next time.

One can hope.

2 comments:

Diandra said...

When Richard and I go out for a walk, I will often end up with my hands full of trash to throw away at home. I will never understand how someone who has enough energy to carry drinks, food and such to a faraway place seems unable to take their trash with them when they return to "civilization".

Anonymous said...

Good for you! Every little bit helps.

Most of the trash along my road is soda and beer cans. I sort of understand the beer cans, because I can picture kids throwing them away before they bring the parents' car home, but soda? (Not that I condone throwing the beer, just that there seems a possible explanation for it).

I have noticed that our trash truck leaks debris once in a while, so not everything is from deliberate littering.

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