Recycling Day! (7-July-2016)

Generally I wouldn't do a recycling day until I had accumulated about twenty bags of recyclables. Wanted to dispose of all of this before I left for NCJCS. Just over 11 bags full and I was trying to get this task accomplished as quickly as possible. Had some things to get done in the afternoon in preparation for camp.

One bag after the next I got all these recyclables sorted out. Being pressed for time I did not photograph the process this time, just the start and the end. 

In total there were 1,755 recyclable items taken off our waterways and trails since the last recycling day on May 11th. The break down was 949 plastic bottles, 646 aluminum cans, 136 glass bottles, 19 plastic tea/milk jugs, 3 plastic oil containers and two steel cans. For the year this brings the grand total to 9,708 recyclable items this project has removed! 

I am fairly certain the next post won't be up until NCJCS ends on the 16th, posts may not be up until the 17th or 18th. It does take some time to sort photos and upload everything. 

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

Like this project? Like it on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA

Recycling Day! (11-May-2016)

Had 27 bags of recyclables to sort through today. All were collected since March 16th. I have wanted to do a recycling day for some time now, but every time I planned one the weather would not cooperate. 

Just like picking up all of these recyclables, sorting them too, takes time. 

The sort and taking the plastics and glass to the recycling center took a little over seven hours. 

This was definitely the highest amount of cans I have had on any recycling day on this blog. 

In total there were 3,425 recyclable items. 1,669 aluminum cans, 1,455 plastic bottles, 244 glass bottles, 31 plastic milk/tea jugs and 26 plastic oil containers. 

This recycling day brings the years total up to 7,950 recyclable items taken out of our environment and disposed of properly. This is in addition to all of the non-recyclables and 62 tires removed from our state parks.  

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

Like this blog? Like it on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA

Recycling Day! (7-Feb-2016)

The first Recycling Day of 2016. I had just over twenty bags to sort through and I never thought in winter I would have this much. Waited for the perfect day with no wind and high enough temperatures to make it bearable sorting trash for many hours. 

I didn't remember picking up this many glass bottles. Last year I avoided glass, not wanting to deal with broken glass on these sorting days. With all of these I only had four or five bottles that broke and dealing with it wasn't that bad.

In total there were 2,381 recyclable items and one full bag of garbage. The recyclables included 928 aluminum cans, 884 plastic bottles, 533 glass bottles, 20 plastic jugs and 16 plastic oil containers. This was all taken from trailsides and riverbanks. There is always more work to be done and this was just the start for this year!

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

Recycling Day (21-Dec-2015)

This is what I collected since the last recycling day I did just last week on the 15th. I honestly can't believe it is December and I am still able to get out and collect this much. Just over twelve bags total in six days, I think that is pretty good. Doing these trash stacks isn't easy, I had to set this one up a second time after the first try toppled before I could get a shot. Some of the ones earlier in the year were much more of a challenge. The stack really is a bit of fun before sorting through what sometimes can be nasty trash.  

The bags from the hiking trips were simple. I had sorted them on site at the parks before I put them in my car. The roadside bags are not as simple and contained a lot of non-recyclable plastics and styrofoam. 

This sort went fairly quickly. Not a single glass bottle broke in the whole process, which made the sort a little more pleasant. 

Normally I would wait longer before I did a trash sort, but like I said on the last recycling day post I want to get all of my recyclables to the center before the holidays. There was barely any room in the receptacles today and it will just get worse.

In total there were 1,340 collected and two full bags of non-recyclables. For the break down, there was 823 plastic bottles, 377 aluminum cans, 100 glass bottles, 28 plastic jugs and 12 plastic oil containers. For the rest of the week the clean-ups are going to be smaller. There is rain in the forecast so I am going to stick to trails and stay off of 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 Taking Out the Trash

Lehigh River (30-August-2015)

Exhausted before I left I decided to do a short paddle in which I have recently cleaned up most of the shore line. I didn't know what the river height was going to be like today and I don't keep track of the release weekends. If you are not familiar with the phrase release weekend, it means that there are scheduled water releases from Francis E. Walter dam to raise the Lehigh for recreational purposes. This weekend must not have been one and the river was lower than my last paddle down. This meant it was safer for me to get out at more places that I couldn't cover before. 

This was from a small island stop. Everything there was scattered throughout many debris piles and there were only plastics items here and there.

The truck cap has migrated down stream. I don't know whether someone moved it or if it had just become dislodged and made its own way.

Not surprising, another whitewater splashing bucket.

This section was much less severe than last time. Not much water in my boat, whereas last time I got soaked.

I knew the bank in this section was full of trash. It is not accessible by foot and this was one of the areas where even near shore the water was too high and fast to stop before. Sadly I had to leave some bottles that I found here. I could see them, but they were in really thick brush and getting them would have caused more damage than good.

A plastic leg, a whitewater paddle and water gun were the best finds of the day and all around the same area.

Started filling up about half way through the trip.

Two more whitewater splashing buckets. Way too many of them and it is clear who is the cause. If this annoys you as much as it annoys me, please contact the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. Tell them you do not want organizations who make money off of our shared resource polluting our waters.

More debris piles, more plastics.

Even more debris piles and even more plastics.

This photo is not set up and is exactly how I found it. This is a hatchling snapping turtle that has just recently emerged from its egg. If you look closely at its nose you can see a little white spec. That is an egg tooth and is what turtles use to cut through their egg shell when they are ready. The egg tooth falls off not long after the hatching makes it out of its egg. It's really nice that one of the first things this turtle got to see is a nice styrofoam cup floating at the waters edge.

Nearing the end of the paddle.

I think this was a fine amount for the time I was out there. I used a different takeout point and luckily there was a dumpster for the non-recyclables on the left.