Road Side Litter And How You Can Help

The number one reason I patrol our local roads for litter is to get some outdoor exercise. The fact that I am performing a community servise is just added incentive to get the exercise.

When I was a young boy and my family would go on camping trips, my father would always insist that we leave our camp site in a better condition than when we found it. That usually meant there would be no garbage or litter lying around and the whole family would scour the camp site for litter just before we departed. This improved the environment for campers that followed our family.

As a result of this upbringing, I never consider casually tossing something on the ground anywhere. And when I see litter along the road or in a public rest room, I want to clean it up to make it a more friendly environment .

For years, I have been picking up litter along roads where I live. But there seems to be more and more litter as time goes on. I believe there are 2 reasons for this. One, there are simply more people and traffic which increases the chance of more road litter being deposited along the road. And two, fewer young people are disciplined or educated as I was to keep our public accessible lands litter free.

Many people have grown up thinking it is government's responibility to keep public lands litter free. I do not agree with that. It is government's responsibility to encourage and make it as easy as they can for you and me to take care of the problem. Most government bodies have accomplished that by establishing Adopt-A-Road programs and placing garbage cans in public areas.

EnviroCorps volunteers are making a difference by patrolling for litter. However, many more volunteers are needed. You can register on our site at www.envirocorps.org and report how you are helping.

Many people simply do not have the time or physical capability to patrol for litter, but they can still help by donating $10 a month. Only 5 people are needed and EnviroCorps staff can patrol a 2 mile section of road 4 times a year.

If you have any questions, I can be contacted at vjyoung@envirocorps.org.

Not all litter is trash! For our purposes anything made by humans and strewn along the road is litter. However, some of the items are usable and therefore are not trash. I have yet to pick up a half mile section of road and not find something of value. Most of the time it is in the form of recyclable aluminum cans which can be turned in for money.

All sorts of clothing and bedding items show up along the road as do perfectly good towels. We some times find unopened canned food or drinks, especially various brands of beer. Toys, especially balls, are another item often found. Cell phones are also occasionally found and can be recycled by sending them to EnviroCorps if the owner can not be found.

Watches, jewelry, sunglasses, the list goes on and on. It is not uncommon to find money lying along the road. Usually it is small change, but I have found several $20 bills. If the owner can be found I return it, otherwise finders keepers.

Let us know what you have found.

(Note; if you find dangerous or heavy item, call your local road authority to have them removed)

Below you will find a questionnaire asking what you think is the best way to address road litter. I ask these questions because I think we need to change peoples perceptions of the individuals picking up litter.

We all know that prisoners and people making restitution for minor offences are often required to pick up litter along our highways and roads. I think this is ok and helps to solve the litter problem, but it also creates a social problem.

After many years of picking up road litter and people asking me why I am doing it, it has become obvious that some if not most people think it is very demeaning. Some have gone so far as to ask me what trouble I have gotten myself into that requires me to pick up litter.

There are those that do thank me, and that is much appreciated. Most people totally ignore me which is fine, but I often get the feeling they are uncomfortable with me in their presence. What are your thoughts on this? You can comment below.

Please support our adopt a road program and join us on our litter patrols.

When I first stated to pick up road litter, I ran into a lot of problems. The first problem, I faced, was the bags I was using. The trash bags you buy for the garbage can under your kitchen sink are not strong enough. They easily rip, stretch, and puncture making them unsafe and awkward to use.

I searched high and low for the right size and strength bag. At that time, the only source for such a bag was through a government supply system which was not directly accessible to a private individual. However, if you officially adopt a section of road, government would and still does supply you with the bags.

The best bag is about a 30 gallon, 3 mil, and 27 inch deep bag with a draw string. A bag this size when full is about all one would want to carry. It is short enough that it does not drag on the ground and sufficiently strong so that it will not rip.

The second bag problem was what to do with it once it was full. I was collecting much more litter than our weekly pickup garbage can could hold. Taking it to our local disposal site was way too expensive. Again, government was willing to collect the full bags and dispose of them if we signed a contract with them. After forming EnviroCorps, this is what we eventually did.

The second problem I ran into was constantly stopping and bending over to pick up litter. I was trying to get some exercise and my heart rate up. Stopping was not allowing that. It helped to pick up the same stretch of road more often so that there was less litter to pick up. However, that defeated the incentive of providing a community service of picking up litter.

The answer was a Professional Grade Pick-Up Tool. This tool makes the job so much easier. I now can pick up most of the litter with out stopping, let alone bending over. I recommend anyone patrolling for road litter should have one of these tools. Several companies sell them. Arc Mate will personally label the tool for you.

Once I had the proper bags and a pick up tool for collecting road litter, another problem developed. How to keep the litter bag open as I was attempting to place something in it? I searched the internet for an answer to this problem and ran across the E-ZEE LitterBag Caddy. I ordered one and found it helped a lot. However, after a time, my wrist would get sore constantly tipping up the heavy bag of litter to add more litter. Keeping the bag attached to the litter caddy also proved problematic. I was also recycling aluminum cans which meant I needed to dump out all the litter after I collected it to sort out the cans. A solution to these problems needed to be found and there seemed to be nothing on the market that would do that.

After some thought and experimentation, I came up with the dual litter bag caddy. It is quite simple and solved all my problems. Litter can be sorted as one collects it. Having two bags with a handle in the center helps balance the load and keeps the bags open without making my wrist sore. It also keeps the bags higher off the ground so they do not drag as much.

This tool is made out of one-half inch heavy PVC. The square frames holding the bags has stainless steel fasteners in each corner spaced the right distance to keep the bag draw cord tight. With the first several caddys, I made the handle about 8 inches long. It was extended to about 11 inches so that it balanced better when the bags got heavier. It also allowed the carrier to fit my body and legs better. If you do any amount of road litter patrolling, I suggest you make yourself one of these tools.

Some people have an aversion to wearing a hard hat and other safety gear. It does take a little getting used to wearing a hard hat and keeping it on your head when bending over. However, the positives out way the negatives.

When walking along a road, it is best to wear clothing that makes you very visible to drivers. That is one purpose of safety gear. When reaching into roadside brush to retrieve litter, my hard hat has prevented me form getting scratches or cuts on my head many times. It also helps if I experience an unexpected rain shower.

People do slow down when they observe people wearing official safety gear. I recommend any one patrolling for road litter to wear a safety vest and hard hat.

One more safety item is a movable road sign indicating that people are working ahead. All government programs ask that road signs be used for safety reasons.

When I first started to patrol for road litter, it was totally unpractical for me to use government supplied road signs and safety equipment. It was far more dangerous and unrealistic for me to drive across the peninsula to get the signs, return to where I would pick up road litter and set them up. Then shuffle around moving them as I progressed down the road to meet government spacing regulations. Then return them to the other side of the peninsula and drive back home. That would have been over a 40 mile trip compared to a 2 mile trip if I did not go after the signs.

However, if signs are set up it does add a bit of awareness that people are working ahead which could be construed as additional security. If signs can be easily set up without additional risks and unpractical situations, I endorse their use. That is why EnviroCorps purchased some road signs for volunteers to use.

If you would like to help but do not have the time to do so, you can help by contributing money. For only $10 A month we can pick up 1,373 feet of road side each month or close to one mile each quarter. We are seeking funds for this road section right now. Will you help us? Click on this link. www.envirocorps.org/ecorps/viewJob.aspx?jobId=772

Would you like to help EnviroCorps litter patrol program but do not have money or the desire to pick up other peoples litter? No problem, you can earn some money for yourself and EnviroCorps at the same time when you do your normal shopping.

You will be helping EnviroCorps adopt more road sections to combat road litter and improved the environment.

Thank you for your help in keeping our roads litter free.

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