Picking up others trash.... Yes or No?

[andrewg]

If it's on or near my property, yes. But in other areas I walk I probably would as well, but I'd need to carry a 30 gallon trash bag and leave my dogs at home.

I have been think about cleaning up a particular wetland right next to a new housing development. It has litter thrown into it from these "grand" citizens. I've had the idea to put on some rubber boots and bring a big plastic bag to do a cleanup. I really despise litter and graffiti. Maybe if the people that liver there see me doing this, they MIGHT change what they do. Maybe.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: PimTac
I won’t pick up anything unless I’m absolutely sure it’s safe. Way too many needles and other hazardous stuff these days. One of those trash picker sticks would help.

You should visit the Seattle metro and their parks. Full of druggies and other types of no gooders. They are no go zones, especially after dark or in the early morning hours.

One of the 4x4 clubs to which I belong does a highway cleanup a few times a year. Needles are a very real threat and concern to us. Most of us use grabbers and it's one thing less to worry about.

The other is distracted driving. Luckily, the last few years, our section of road has been under construction so there has been heavy police presence keeping people paying attention.

 

[BalticBob]

"Don't Mess with Texas" (our catchy phrase to say "please do not litter")
There is so much litter along our roads and highways, it is very noticeable when the contract mowers cut the tall grass, exposing all the litter and shredding it to pieces.

 

[Sierra048]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
About once a month I'll grab a bucket and pick up the trash in our immediate neighborhood. I think it sets a good example. It keeps our neighborhood from looking like appalachia.

It's sad that sometimes I'll see fast food containers tossed on the street. My catholic school upbringing taught me at an early age not to litter. Keep the litter in your car or in your pocket until you get to a trash bin. I make a habit to collect the litter and dispose it when I'm filling up at the gas station.


^^^^^ This right here. How hard is it to keep the trash inside your vehicle until you get to the proper disposal site?

We don't use one of the many local trash disposal companies who pick up. I built a bear-proof garbage bin and take it to the local transfer station once a month. The road to the transfer station is one of the busier roads in the area. I can't describe how bad it looks with all the trash that has fallen out of vehicles headed to the station. The county will have inmate trustees clean the road maybe twice a year but it doesn't take long for it to look trashy again. No way I could lose a bag of garbage and not stop and clean it up.

 

[Merkava_4]

I'll sneak into my neighbor's yard the night before trash pickup to get the trash and then put it in their Toter.

 

[4WD]

Wasn’t always that way … go figure …

 

[Virtus_Probi]

There usually isn't much, but I do inspect the brook behind our house and fish trash out as needed. Most common issue seems to be things like basketballs and soccer balls getting away from kids and ending up trapped by one of our little waterfalls.
When I used to coach softball, I would always go around the field and stands and clean up any trash after a practice or game...usually one or two kids would end up helping me, don't remember any parents ever chipping in. We had lots of parents who were too lazy to pick up a ball that landed two feet away from them in their folding chairs and toss it back.
I will pick up trash anywhere if I have time, but probably would not touch anything like a dirty diaper or a used needle with my hands...maybe I would kick something like that into a corner or down a hill if it would get it further away from people.

 

[PandaBear]

Depends. If it is in a place I "trust" I will, like office or school, but I wouldn't touch trash near homeless encampment for the risk of needles and fecal matter / germs / virus.

 

[andrewg]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Depends. If it is in a place I "trust" I will, like office or school, but I wouldn't touch trash near homeless encampment for the risk of needles and fecal matter / germs / virus.


Up north of me (Seattle), I would NOT DARE pick up ANY trash. The place is loaded with used needles and so called "homeless" garbage.

 

[aquariuscsm]

What I find really disgusting is all the scum who toss cigarette butts out the car window. That's so low class.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I remember this commercial from when I was 8 years old.

And this one too.

 

[andrewg]

^^^^^ I remember both of those, especially the indian guy.

 

[ZZman]

Originally Posted By: Sierra048
My wife and I take a two mile round trip walk everday down a pasture road to the main road and back. Our road is lightly traveled. When we first started walking we couldn't believe the amount of trash we saw along our path. We decided we try to clean it up a little. The first day we filled three contractor size bags with trash. Over the past two and a half years we've proudly cleaned this stretch to the point we carry a small, walmart-sized bag and pick up the occassional trash some cabin renter might dump out the window. We are not by any means what I consider "eco" maniacs. We just like an aesthetically pleasing walk without feeling like we're walking across a city landfill.


Awesome!

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Yes we all mostly have done our part here. They leave it all from gum rappers to cigarette buts to dog excrement!

 

[ZeeOSix]

Some humans are filthy animals that use the world as their garbage can due to lack of intelligence and laziness.

 

[benjy]

every bit of cleanup helps!! while walking the dog i pickup anything i can recycle or burn in the winter, it gives me a feel good for free!!!

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Some humans are filthy animals that use the world as their garbage can due to lack of intelligence and laziness.


My next door neighbor has the cleanest house in the neighborhood, but also the filthiest trash cans in the neighborhood. I'm the exact opposite.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Just today I picked up a smashed Coors beer can next to the community mailbox and threw it in my recycle bin. It probably fell out of the neighbor's trash can on garbage day (yesterday) and was ran over by cars picking up mail. Of course they are too lazy to pick it up when they retrieved their trash can. These same people also leave the news papers that get thrown into the driveway once a week ... they leave it sitting in the driveway for literally weeks. I've seen them get out of their car and walk right over it, and seem too lazy to pick it up off the ground.

I like to keep the street clean, as it makes the neighborhood look better IMO. Constantly picking up cigarette butts out of the street ... nasty smokers think the whole world is their ash tray. Half the time on garbage day it seems to be windy around here during the winder months. The neighbor next to me always has over stuffed gargage, and the wind usually blows some of it out and the wind scatters it all down the street. Some people have no common sense about what's going on around them ... living in a stupor or something.

 

[Merkava_4]

Years back a neighbor had a trash can that smelled so bad that I rolled it to the next street over.

 

[eljefino]

In the spring when the snow melts... otherwise it seems to blow away on its own.