TODAY, I REACHED A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF DISGUSTING!!!

 

I spent two hours yesterday after work picking up trash in Barberton, because the forecast said snow.  Well, I woke up and there was no snow, so off I went to finish the other end of Wooster Road.

I got to the Main Street Barberton office at 8:00, and there were four other brave souls there, ready to pick up trash in the frigid cold!

I headed for Wooster Road, but I saw a litter near the bus stop, so I pulled over to pick that up.  It's nearly impossible for me to drive by litter!

As I looked around, I saw the other volunteers, including an elderly couple.  They were so sweet!  The husband held the bag while his wife picked up the trash.  I loved seeing that so much.

I found an area with lots of bur-docks.  Lots of them!  I almost forgot about trying to pick up this plastic bag, but I managed to get it without getting covered with them.  

I picked up another 1,081 pieces of trash in Barberton before I headed back home to Akron.

This is the southeast corner of Main and Waterloo.  Visitors coming into Akron typically have to wait at the light here.  What a mess it is!  (I'm guessing that impatient visitors clean out their cars while waiting for the light to turn green.)

I picked up 479 pieces on this corner, and I discovered I'm really getting good at picking up trash!  I picked up everything in record time!

Now it looks so clean and loved!  

The grass is icky brown, but when it turns green, it will make a wonderful welcome to visitors, and maybe they won't want to mess it up.  (I can only hope.)

The northeast corner of Main & Wilbeth has a Speedway gas station as well as an abandoned building that homeless people may be living in, and there's always so much trash here!  

I noticed they have brand new dumpsters, really pretty red ones.  So why don't people use them?

I picked up 1,567 pieces of trash on this corner.  With sparkling clean dumpsters right there?

This fenced area is just a few yards from the dumpsters.  Look at that mess!

It looks really nice now, and even though I know it won't stay clean, the next time won't be so hard. 

1,567 pieces is a lot of trash for one corner.

After I finished that, I headed up to an area I saw driving by the other day, Main Street near the I-76 exit ramp.  

It was so awful.  I knew I wouldn't get it all done, but I wanted to make a dent.

I didn't get it all cleaned, but I did clean this corner before my trash grabber broke!  I had to walk all the way to my car, hoping I had an extra grabber, and I did!!!

So I decided I did enough there, and I wanted to focus on the next area south.  It was just as bad.  So I cleaned that up, and here's the disgusting part.  (I apologize in advance!!!)

I noticed lots of poop, and I wondered who's walking their dogs here.  And then it hit me . . . it's not dog poop!  So I reached a whole new level of disgusting when I think about trash.

I tiptoed through this massive area, being careful not to step in any of it, and I was getting more grossed out as I worked.  I know the homeless people have to go to the bathroom somewhere, but why don't they carry around poop bags for themselves? 

No wait!  Why would they do that?  They don't think anything about throwing thousands of pieces of trash on the ground.  Why would they clean up their poop?  Pretty sure, I'm not venturing into that area again.  Before long, the ticks will be out, and I don't go into weedy areas, but people poop is so much worse than ticks!!!

I

I'm going to focus on the trash I can reach from the sidewalks.  

This is the area my friend, Tom, cleans on a regular basis.  

There's a bus stop here, and a traffic light.  Always lots of trash that needs picked up each week.

Won't he be surprised when he drives by and sees I cleaned it up for him?

After discovering the field of poop, I don't think anything I see will bother me.

I picked up 4,638 pieces of trash today, and was out for 6 1/2 hours. 

I'm sure I'll pay for it tomorrow, but what a great day!