kite in tree

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some blue sky. This greyness is wearing thin. I came across this shot I took in the spring of 2008. As you can see, litter’s been lingering on my mind for a while. What made me think of this shot was what I saw last Saturday when I was driving along US Highway 71 on my way back from the Litter Index. There was a gorgeous hawk sitting in a tree and a few branches over was a plastic bag. I was sorry to have missed that shot with my camera, but I’m sure another scenario like that won’t be too hard to find.

Since the branches are bare, I notice more things in trees. However, with spring on the way, those branches will soon be covered with foliage and the litter hanging in the trees will be masked. Out of sight, out of mind. The opposite is different with things on the ground, such as dirty snow piles. Someone I work with told me about an icky snow pile near work. So, today at lunch, I checked it out. It’s pretty icky alright. As this black blob of snow continues to melt, more trash is being revealed. It’s kind of like a mini Great Pacific Garbage Patch, only it’s on land and it’s in Kansas City. I want to go back and get better pictures, because this shot doesn’t really show how disgusting this snow heap of trash really is. Go check it out for yourself it you’d like. It’s located at the northeast corner of Brookside and Meyer Boulevards.

snow heap trash

no dumping sign

Yesterday, I participated in the Kansas City Litter Index. This involved driving to designated parts of the city and rating the amount of litter we saw. I paired up with two outstanding medical students from UMKC. We drove around for three hours and logged 52 miles driving in two different areas of the city. Our orders were to rate the litter, but not to discuss what we saw so as not to influence each other’s opinions. Well let me tell you, it was pretty hard to refrain from gasps here and there. Certain parts of the urban core need H-E-L-P!  It opened my eyes to a whole different world out there. It’s really pretty sad. Some of these neighborhoods need to get involved in community clean ups.

One thing that might bring attention to these areas is a new app called SeeFixClick.com where you can report issues that need attention in your community. (A friend told me about this site after hearing about it on NPR last week. You can hear the interview here.) Anyway, a few of the photos are below. I’ll be helping out with another litter index this Saturday in a different part of the city. More importantly, I’m looking forward to helping out with some upcoming clean ups. I hope this area is one of them.

littered street kcmo #1

When we turned down the street that had the “No Dumping” sign posted above, this is what we saw. Obviously, the sign doesn’t seem to have much of an impact.

littered street kcmo #2

littered street kcmo #3

litter by crocus

Today’s post is dedicated to my friends who not only support what I’m doing, but who are also out there picking up litter. I get frequent comments from my sister who is constantly picking up litter along the Rio Grande on walks with her dog, Blue. Earlier this week, she stated that she had left the house without an extra bag, but found one on her walk and was able to pick up what she could. However, the tire she saw was too much to haul home. I have another friend who picks up litter on her walks with Pumpkin (who has been featured on this blog before). Her ‘haul of trash’ photo is below. Another friend of mine picks up what he can on bike rides and is also a fanatic about picking up litter and recycling what he can while traveling. It’s really easy to do. All you have to do is find the nearest recycling spot  in the town you are traveling to next. It’s amazing the amount of crap he hauls around on these trips. Thanks again, friends.

Now, onto the update on my last post about the litter I spotted on my walk with Homer last Saturday. During the week, I’ve been in contact with the mayor, the city administrators of two local cities, the JOCO environmental office and a city council member who was kind enough to take the time to meet with me at the Shawnee Indian Mission and high school parking lot on Thursday afternoon. As of Friday afternoon, I was assured that the litter problem by the high school will be taken care of – when, is another story. Homer and I walked by there this morning and it’s all still there. The stream looks like it has less litter than it did last week – all 5 kickballs that we saw last week are no longer there – but we did see a new one. My concern is that with all the rain we’ve been having this week, the litter may have been washed down stream. If people are going to do litter clean ups, they need to do it NOW before the rains come and before all the growth begins to happen which just hides it all among the foliage. Being ‘too cold’ is not an excuse to let litter linger. This entire winter I’ve been out walking my dog picking up after lazy littering people and yes, it’s been darn cold. I will stay on this issue for as long as litter is a problem.

For now, I’m off to help out with the Kansas City Litter Index. I’m volunteering with students from the Environmental Studies Student Association at UMKC. It will be very interesting to see what’s out there, and yes, I’ll have photos.

pumpkins litter haul

Here’s the litter picked up by Pumpkin and her handler. This was found on a mile long walk. (Thanks, friends.)

cup by grate

Some people don’t understand the words: “No dumping. Drains to stream.” Too often, I find litter near grates. Eventually, it makes its way into nearby streams. Homer and I found evidence of this yesterday. We decided to take a walk next to the stream that runs through the Shawnee Indian Mission. Next to the Indian Mission, is a complex consisting of a Catholic high school, elementary school and church. A few weeks ago, I contacted someone at the high school about litter in their parking lot, but never heard back. You see, all of that trash is making its way into the nearby stream. The further we walked up the stream, the more appalled I was at the amount of litter and other crap that was in the stream and on its banks. I will be contacting them again tomorrow about getting this cleaned up. It’s really unacceptable.

bag in grate

chip bag in stream

This was the first piece of litter that caught my eye. While I was photographing this chip bag, I glanced  upstream and saw this…

ducks

two ducks in the same stream. Now, walk a litter further with me up the stream. This area is pretty small and contained, so I was shocked at what I saw.

ducks and chip bag in stream

litter in stream A

litter in stream B

litter in stream C

litter in stream D

Kickballs from the nearby school. I found a total of five.

litter in stream E

plane

litter by stream

This area is right next to the high school parking lot. Obviously, litter has blown from there to here.

litter in high school lot

Here’s the high school parking lot that butts up next to the Indian Mission. Notice that the majority of this litter is fast food.

Now, walk with me a little further through the parking lot up to the church…UNACCEPTABLE!

litter lines bushes

paper in bushes

paper in bush

paper bear

octopus paper art

According to Keep America Beautiful, paper accounts for 22% of the litter that’s out there. Now that the snow is pretty much all melted, lots of paper is appearing on the streets and grassy areas. It’s also been very windy these past few days so stuff is getting blown around everywhere. Today’s entry is dedicated to littered paper – receipts, fliers, a kid’s art project, etc. While paper breaks down more easily than plastic, it’s still a nuisance.

paper compilation 3-05-10

Business card, a straw wrapper, receipts and fliers are just some of the paper products Homer and I find on our walks.

cardboard packaging

Other times, we find large cardboard packaging in the street. This one is for a vanity mirror. It’s quite a large piece of cardboard and is pretty hard to miss whether walking or driving down the street.

label

Here’s a label I picked up in a neighbor’s yard.

burnt paper

When I looked out my window this afternoon, I saw this piece of burnt paper next to the lilac bush. Sometimes, my neighbors burn trash, but I can’t definitively say that it belongs to them.

plastic santa

Sometimes, I find the most interesting things. Yes, they are still considered litter, but I would also move these into the ‘interesting’ category.

ball of chicken wire

plastic hose

The shadow looks like one of those cause-type ribbons.

sock

Wonder what happened to its mate.

ball

can in yucca plant

Wrapping up the litter finds for the end of February was interesting. The can count came in at 113 – about half of what I picked up last month. So, I guess that’s progress (although, one day I collected 25 cans on a regular walk with Homer). One of the more interesting things I found was a nearly full package of crumpled cigarettes with a “quit smoking” piece of literature a few feet away. Other than that, it was mostly the typical things littered in the typical places. Lazy irresponsible people throwing their half eaten cheeseburger trash in the middle of the street, and beer and soda cans tossed to the curb make me crazy as I ask myself “Why, why why?”

On a final note, I am very unhappy to report that I never heard back from anyone from the City or the high school and it’s going on three weeks now. I happened to walk through the high school parking lot and it’s a mess. The thing that ticks me off is that a fair amount of that litter blows onto other nearby properties and a nearby stream. I also shake my head when I walk by city hall and see the same trash on the lawn for days at a time.

can count february

Here they are and here’s the breakdown:  47 beer (41 cans AB product) and 66 soda = 113 Total cans.

crumpled cigs in pack

Here’s a crumpled package of cigarettes, and nearby, I found this…

quit smoking paper

litter in grate

These two items remained in this grate for ten days. Every time I drove by, I was hoping someone would pick it up, but no one did, so I did. How can people not notice this and be bothered enough to not pick it up.

fast food cup

A cup on the bank lawn, and…

cup

another cup on the bank lawn.

plastic bag on church lawn

Divine intervention could not keep this large plastic dry cleaning bag off the church lawn.

mcbag of leftover food

Food tossed in the street attracts animals.  Animals in the street equals, well, splat.

plastic cups

Not one, but two cups emerge from the snow.

foam cup

cans

Soda And Beer.

cigarette pack cellophane

litter 2-28-10

What a way to end the month. A pile of crappy litter, and…

oil spots

a few oil spots.  That’s a wrap.

egg carton in street

Sometimes, you just don’t know what kind of litter you’ll run across – literally. Tonight, while coming home from the KC Litter Index meeting (of all things), I rounded the corner and there was a styrofoam egg carton in the middle of the street. I can tell you that it wasn’t there when I left.  Where did it come from? Very odd…

Back to the litter index. I’m excited about helping out this year with this very important project. Keep Kansas City Beautiful and Bridging the Gap are doing great things for Kansas City. I may find it a little frustrating, though, not being able to pick up the litter, as this project is about observing and rating the amount of litter we see.  The ‘Great Clean Up’ will begin in March and continue through April and May. I encourage all of you to pick it up whenever and wherever you see it.

recycle spot bin

I’ve seen these recycle spot bins appearing around different parts of the city. I believe these are sponsored by MARC, which is also another great organization doing great things in Kansas City.  Now, let’s hope people keep using them. Hooray, progress!

foot insert package

Some people are not familiar with this phrase. It means you’re not supposed to leave your crap behind, or better yet, pick up after yourself.

This is the first time I’ve spotted a foot insert product package. It says “My footprint” and this person decided to leave it on a sidewalk. The can count was the highest it’s been in weeks – 13 beer, 12 soda. We also found a large vodka bottle and and a few beer bottles. My ‘McNemesis’ was very present also.

mccup

Found two of these on my walk yesterday.

mccup 2

…and a random piece of styrofoam.

mcfry and bottle

litter