Miles on our morning walk
As many of you know, I love to walk my dog, Miles. He and I go out early every weekday morning for a 30-minute walk. Saturdays and Sundays, we usually go for a really long walk.
This past Sunday, he and I were out for our normal lovely long walk. This walk takes us up into a National Forest. It is absolutely gorgeous. We’ve seen lots of deer, which Miles would just love to chase, and every now and then a fox!
As we walked along the road, I felt my temper rising. It takes a lot to make me really angry but what I saw was horrible. Someone, or perhaps several someones, had dumped their trash on the side of this rural road. I’m accustomed to seeing the occasional cup or bottle along the roadside but this was excessive. There were empty cans, paper towels, food wrappers and more. I’m sure you can use your imagination.
This sight disturbed me so much that I went back later, without Miles, with a garbage bag and some plastic gloves.
I had to begin rationalizing this – making excuses. Perhaps someone was on the way to the dump and the trash fell out the back of the pickup. I don’t know. Maybe you can come up with another reason for about a quarter mile’s worth of trash spread along a lovely road.
I started thinking about trash, recycling, and composting. I’ve been recycling for years. I have a dual garbage container in my kitchen. One side is for garbage and the other is for recycling. Having a small compost container in my kitchen has reduced the amount of garbage. I empty the garbage and recycling into larger bins in the garage. These get picked up once a week. I empty the small compost bin from my kitchen into the large compost barrel in the backyard. I take the weeds and small sticks that I come across and put them in my compost bin, too. When fall rolls around I can put the leaves in my compost. I love this, putting the debris to good use. This compost bin will turn the debris into a fertilizer mix for my plants.
I’ve been interested in composting for a number of years. My brother and sister-in-law had a big compost pile at their house. I thought it was such a good way to put scraps of food to use as well as garden debris. There was no good place at my other home to put a compost bin. Honestly, it was not on the top of my list of things to do when I moved. The watershed management company in my town sent a flyer in my bill talking about a composting class. The details in the flyer told me that they provide (for a small fee) the large and small compost bins. I decided to take the class and I’m so glad I did!
What if you don’t have a regular garbage or recycling pick up in your neighborhood?
Go to your town or city website and search to find out if there is a town dump and/or a town recycling center.
In my town, there is a big recycling center. They have large bins for paper, cardboard, glass, and plastic. They charge a small fee to recycle certain electronics. The dump is just down the road from this recycling center.
In my opinion, there’s no good reason for dumping trash along the side of the road – any road.
Have you come across roads like this in your neighborhood?
What did you do about it? Do you walk on by?
I am setting an intention to keep the roads in the neighborhoods in which I live clear of trash. I’m not saying that I will go out everyday and spend my time picking up that which someone else has tossed. What I will do is bring a small garbage bag with me once a week when Miles and I go for a long walk and pick up what will fit in a small bag.
What will you do?
Write me back and let me know.
Here are some trash cans I found on Amazon.
Please note these are affiliate links through the Amazon Affiliate Program. At no additional charge to you, I will earn affiliate fees if you decide to make a purchase.