Nesquehoning (13-Apr-2016)

It was such a nice day I decided for the clean-up I would get out on the water. Before I could do that I had to take Penny for a walk. I drove to a road that doesn't get much traffic and that we used to walk a lot. I cleaned this area multiple times last year and I didn't think there would be much trash. I was wrong and this ended up being more of a clean-up than a walk. Penny didn't seem happy with me and I wasn't happy with all of the trash. 

Not even out of the pull-off where I park and I found several new places where people have been dumping since last year. All I could take out on this trip were recyclables, so in this specific area I tied Penny up and got to work picking through everything that others cast over the edge. Walking on yard waste commingled with trash including broken glass and metal objects is not fun. I took out all of the recyclables I could see or reach. 

All of this came from just around the pull-off. I felt sick after finding all of this. I put a lot of time into this area last year and just over the winter it has become worse than it ever was. 

I continued down the road and back with Penny. The road was as it normally is and I walked just long enough to fill my pack.

For an unplanned clean-up I got a lot. The pack and what I collected around the pull-off filled a large contractor size trash bag. I took Penny home after this and got my gear together for the planned clean-up of the day. 

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project here: Help Fund Taking Out the Trash

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Nesquehoning (21-Dec-2015)

With the forecast looking like rain for the rest of the week I decided today would be best for getting back to the road. Picking up where I left off yesterday, I set my goal for three bags and got to cleaning. In the photo to the right there is a small wetland area in the depression off of the roadside. With low temperatures today I couldn't get everything out of it. This will be high on my list in the spring when it warms up again. Even though this wetland is small and right next to the road it could still contain a variety of amphibian life. That is reason enough to get back there and do a better job when it warms up.

The first bag of the day. There was a lot more styrofoam than I wanted to collect, but it was there so it went in the bag. This is a concern, because currently I can only dispose of a limited amount of non-recyclables. 

It is the holiday season and I have been seeing more holiday themed trash. This was a whole packet of labels. It is sad to see things like this, it takes natural resources to create, it is wrapped in plastic, someone paid money for it and it just ends up unused on the roadside. There is so much waste in our society and I find so much stuff that I feel there is no point to. Soda and water bottles are number one on that list. I can't believe how many I find with just a sip or two out of discarded on the road. 

This fits in with the small rant above. I really just took this photo because an unopened pack of butter was just about the most interesting thing along the roadside today. I would like to point out if you like fast food and would like to curb your appetite for it, start doing trash clean-ups. After picking up so many fast food cups and seeing the paper bags everywhere I go, I have lost pretty much all interest in fast food. 

The second bag filled today. Can you tell I forgot to take a photo of it before I started a new bag and continued on? I wasn't going back, I really just wanted to get the three bags filled and get off the road. 

The third bag filled quickly and I picked up some large plastic containers as well. In addition I found an unused flex bag, just like the ones I use, but I think this one was a little larger. I had a long walk back to the car on the opposite side of the road and a portion of it I haven't cleaned yet. 

I stuck to the road and did not go down the embankment on the way back. I still filled the found bag bringing the days total up to four. I will have to go back and get everything below the embankment. Not only small trash, but even more tires down there. Finding funding to get rid of tires is definitely high on the priority list for the new year. Today I did not find any syringes, I'm not complaining, I just found it odd. I did find another bag for them, thankfully nothing was in it. 

Getting the last bag and the two containers into the car took some pushing and shoving. Like yesterday there really is a difference visually on the section of road I have been working on. It isn't perfect, there are still paper products, car parts and larger non-recyclable items, but it is a big difference from what it was. Happy to finish by 1pm, this gave me enough time to get home, do a sort and take everything from the past week to the recycling depot. 

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project here: Help Fund Taking Out the Trash

Nesquehoning (12-Dec-2015)

Back on the road again. I chose this section because it had just rained before I arrived, the roads were a bit slick and not to far down the roadway is a guardrail I could safely collect trash behind. I didn't realize I would fill a full bag before I even made it to the rail. If any of today's post sounds like I am frustrated or annoyed, I am, also road clean-ups aren't my favorite thing.

This was less than ten feet from where I parked. Green briar surrounded more of the recyclables and it wasn't easy even with the tongs getting them out of it. I was very displeased to see the political sign. I think politicians should be held accountable, with at least a small fine, for every sign their support groups don't retrieve. 

A mystery bag, how I don't love surprises. From what I can see it had recyclables in it so I took it. Who knows what I will find when I open it on the sort day?

Tires, tires, tires, tires, who will take tires for free? I have contacted different government agencies with little success. I just checked out Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection's site again. I found this link: http://illegaldumpfreepa.org/report-it/, so I tried it. My hopes are not set high, when I submitted the report it did say I would receive some sort of correspondence from someone within 48 hours. There was no place to leave actual comments, I used the other trash section to explain how I came across these tires and what I am doing with this blog. I also offered to move all of these tires to the roadside. All I need is someone to pick them up, it should be simple, I am offering to do all of the hard work. I am very interested in the response. If it is a positive one and gets this area cleaned up in a reasonable time frame every large dumpsite I have found will be submitted. 

All of these items were gathered from a small area just down the embankment by my car. Several empty oil cans suggest to me that the pull off I parked in may be used by some for oil changes. Others just use it to dump trash and tires. I ended up with a full bag before I even started walking down the road. I left it on the side of my car and continued on. 

If I am remembering correctly this is the fourth site I have found 2-liter bottles with the plastic inserts on the bottom. It is amazing that some of them still look like they could have been on a store shelf yesterday. How many more of these will I find? 

The second bag full. In the photo it may seem like a good distance from my car, it really wasn't. Way too much trash.

This was the best find of the day. It was a slight distraction from the bottles, cans and other trash.

There are items I come across that really make me wonder. I have seen someone walking this section of road before with the same kind of pack and I would be willing to bet this is the same one. I half expected to find a body down the slope, but thankfully it was just the bag. Why would something like this be left there? I thought it best not to touch anything and I left it as I found it. From what I could see all of the books were religious and the medkit was new with a zip tie still on the handle. There was also random car parts including a headlight, which is part of the reason I first thought there might be someone down the bank.

Littering off of this section of road is nothing new. Several places I think were used as old dump sites. At the start of todays clean-up I was collecting glass, but with the sheer amounts of old glass I just had to give up that endeavor and leave it. Some of the old glass bottles are more durable than todays, yet some are much more fragile. I really don't want to be picking through broken glass on the sort days or have a bottle break on the trek back and have a bag rip open. For glass in the future I am going to have to buy thick reusable bags and designate them specifically for glass. These two Pepsi items show how old some of the piles are along the road. The bottle was complete and not even a chip and the can was steel. It was the first old steel can that I could actually read the label on.

Third full bag of the day and although the car wasn't far the walk back seemed like forever with the two bags, my pack, my hook and camera in tow. 

This was it, three garbage bags and a bag with two water jugs. I thought it was pretty good, but it really didn't make a difference as far as you can see driving by. Once I do the opposite side of the road passers by might actually noticed that someone cleaned the roadside. 

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project here: Help Fund This Project!

Nesquehoning (10-Dec-2015)

Today I worked on a small section of route 209 just outside of Nesquehoning. With the recovering pup at home I did not want to go too far from the house and I didn't want to be out too long. In the past this portion of 209 was regularly cleaned by inmates from the local prison. Not sure why they no longer clean this area, but it was probably either budget or safety concerns which ended this practice. In recent years there have been a number of fatal accidents along this section and it really isn't the safest place to do a clean up. I am sick of seeing all the trash on the roadsides leaving town, so I think I am going to continue working on this area at least for awhile. I set my goal at filling two bags and I was off collecting. 

Like many roadsides it was bottle after bottle, can after can and the occasional roadkill. In this photo you can see all three. 

From the road I could see a lot of trash down this steep slope. I worked my way down and found the safest routes to each piece I could see. 

More pull tabs today. It seems the inmates only cleaned what was right next to the road and never ventured down the side. Inside this can was a rolled up Wise chip bag. I tried to find a date on it, but there was none I could see.

This was the second bag of the day, most of which came from the slope. The bottles and cans I gathered by the bag filled it and part of my backpack too. 

With the second bag filled I headed back to where I left the first. If you can see my car in the background you can tell how small of an area I worked on and I really thought two bags was a lot for such a small area. You can also see other trash items still left behind. I was working on aluminum, plastics, styrofoam and glass, items like paper products I leave behind because they will biodegrade in my lifetime. 

This was it, two full bags. I think this shows that it isn't just a handful of people that litter out of their cars, it's a lot that do. Something has to change in our society. All of this trash goes somewhere and it is better if it is recycled than left in our environment. From what I have seen with litter and other environmental issues, things are not getting better, but they should be. 

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project at: gofundme.com/takingoutthetrash

Nesquehoning (11-Nov-2015)

The more I go out, the more trash I collect, the more trash I see that I cannot deal with, the more I realize it needs to be done and more people need to care. How do you get people to care? I started this blog to give awareness to this problem and to try to do something about it. I feel like I need to do more and I don't know how. Two bags of recyclables taken out today and with them I found a multitude of dump sites that I can't deal with. It kills me that there is so much out there and if I just had a place to take it I could do something about it.

This was in addition to the bags above. I cleaned up the parking lot before I headed out an access road and this was probably about the tenth clean-up this year of the lot and there is always new items here.

This access road runs through private property that is open to the public. You are allowed to hunt, hike and even drive this road. The driving part is what I believe leads to the main trash problems. 

If the road was gated, with restricted access, these items most likely wouldn't be there. Yes, these particular items look old and probably are, but there is a lot of newer stuff out there as well. 

There is a Game Commission gun range located not far from this area. I think people choose to come here instead, because not only can they shoot, but they can drink and set fires as well. I personally have no problem with any of these things, I just think if you do them you should clean up after yourself. 

I really can't imagine what goes on here at times. I feel I must once again point out that burning anything but untreated firewood is extremely bad for your health if you are sitting around it. People that utilize this area likely don't care, but they should know this, especially the ones who lit the bucket on the right on fire, who knows what the contents even were. 

The hike up and this site filled my first bag. I left it on the side of the access road to pick up on the way back and continued on for more. 

More piles further in that I can't do anything about. An entire roof and more treated wood. 

 I wanted to hike much further in than this point, but this was it. Another makeshift gun range and an extremely large pile of treated wood and fire pits. Penny was with me and I had to leash her to a tree away from the site while I worked on collecting recyclables. Lots of nails, broken glass and metal shards. Nothing can be done about this. The owners don't seem to care, police can't patrol it and I feel like the locals think this is an acceptable way of doing things.

Filled the second bag quickly. Back by the shooting area, there were not only shot bottles and cans, but TVs, other electronics and several shot VHS tapes including Toy Story and Star Wars. After seeing all of this and having two full bags I had no desire to go any further. So I retrieved Penny and started back to collect the other bag on the roadside.

Of course Penny takes all of the credit for removing the trash. 

On the way out I noticed this nice pile of tires I overlooked on the way in. Always more. 

Where are all those inspired by Muir, Carson, Leopold and others like them? Why are these old problems still a problem today? Why are they getting worse? We should be past this by now and my blog and the work I am doing shouldn't be needed. Some days I feel extremely frustrated and this is one of them, can you tell?

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project at: gofundme.com/takingoutthetrash