Litter

Please do not.  

The article should stop right here. Done. Period. No discussion desired. No discussion needed.  

Sadly, it is still a topic.  

Such a simple thing that our population still cannot grasp. We are taught about it as children. The concept seems simple to me. Then on a beautiful bike ride I turn a corner and see a large pile of it.

It is not a difficult concept. If there is something you do not want, please place it in an appropriate location (litter in trash receptacle). If you do not want it, odds are that others do not either.  

Sadly, some of the most beautiful places I ride are also places where trash is discarded. No, that is not what makes it beautiful. You know the place. You are on a beautiful tree lined road in the middle of nowhere. Winding your way on a ribbon of road. You turn a corner and, on the side of the road, is a pile of junk. There are always at least two of the following three – mattress, sofa, dresser. Always. Sometimes just a random collection of other junk. Sometimes just random trash, but usually the contents of a small apartment are dispersed about. Today, there was a sewing manikin in the pile.  

Often there is a physical change in landscape – a drop-off. Erosion or the natural feature of a hole. Someone decided to put their junk in that hole. Actually, most often they are too lazy to even get it to the hole. It is on the side of the road next to the hole. Not that getting it in the hole would make it ok. It is just interesting how littering and laziness seem to hold hands. 

It comes in waves. I am unsure of the pattern but have seen it again recently. Maybe it is spring/summer cleaning? What is up with that? Someone needed/wanted to move household items and decided the best place for those items was on the side of this road? Yes, I know they chose the road because it is quiet with little traffic – thus they will likely see no one while doing it. Or, better said, be seen doing it. So, they know it is wrong because it is done where they will not be caught. Hmmmm. It is also likely they live nearby. Why? Well, if you did not live nearby, you would not know this road exists. And – see previous note about laziness and littering holding hands. The free landfill is not that far away. Yes, someone chose to dump it on the side of the road rather than go to the landfill. Maybe it was Sunday afternoon? Maybe in this area there is no ‘free’ place to discard those items. There is always a better option. 

So, yes, if you see a pile of trash/debris on the side of that little road – you can bet it is a delightful and often beautiful low traffic road to ride your bike on. Dichotomy. 

Want a story? You know I have one. This one is true. While living in North Carolina I rode bikes with friends. They had some land near their house and built some mountain bike trails on it. That was pretty much it. A gate and a short road where they parked and then rode. One day they arrived to find garbage dumped right at the gate. What did they do? They went through the garbage. They found letters that had a consistent address. The two brothers loaded all the junk into a pickup truck and drove to the address. Did they knock on the door? Nope. They drove the truck into the middle of the front yard. Got into the back of the truck and started tossing all the garbage into the yard. Yes, you heard me correct. Did anyone come out? No. Did my friends find garbage on their property ever again? Nope. Problem solved. Hah. Yes, I know, those actions involved some risks. I still think it was an effective solution. 

Litter. It is not easy to solve. Why? People. We are all taught about it in school. It is not a difficult concept. Another story to help illuminate. Again, true. A friend was hired to solve those illegal dump sites in an area. He was at the city board meeting. I was present. There was talk. There was arguing among the elected officials. One was adamant that the city was not doing enough on a particular road as there was always trash on the side of that road. Always. Whereas in another part of town, it was always clean and never trashy. That public official was chastising the person in charge and saying that they needed to spend more time on this trashy area. The person in charge was trying to help her understand. He was explaining how frequently he sent crews to that dead end road of which she was speaking that was always full of trash and how it would quickly be trashy again. No one went on that road except those that lived on it. There is no way to solve the problem if those that live there are the ones tossing litter and do not care. This infuriated that public official; she then pressed about that ‘other area’ that was always immaculately clean. He replied – we have never sent a crew to that area. She pressed with more specific details about the street names, and he again stated – we have never sent a crew to that area to clean it. She did not get it and showed her ‘lack of understanding’ (might I say – stupidity) as she then asked, ‘then how is it always so clean?’ He replied, the property owners in the area take care of it, we never have to send a crew there to clean and remove any litter. She was speechless. Why do I bring up that story? Sometimes, what can you do? If those that live there want it to be trashy; cleaning it up does not help. Or, does not help for very long.

I think this answers some of the questions of why people dump their junk on the side of the road. Some people simply do not care. Yes, hopefully there can be some education and that might solve it … eventually. I hope. Short term … it will continue to happen.  What about on the bike? Well, I have rambled long enough… lets save that one for next week.