TODAY WAS SO MUCH BETTER THAN YESTERDAY!

 

Not only was the weather gorgeous today, but I picked up 4.977 pieces of trash!  That's a very big day!

I started at the exit and entrance ramps from Route 8 to Wilbeth Road.  The exit ramp wasn't bad.  I cleaned that a week or so ago. 

The entrance ramp northbound, however, was awful.  The grass and thistles were so thick behind the guard rail, I couldn't hide back there for safety.  

But I got it all done, and cars were staying over.  All but a big semi truck, and he had no choice.  I jumped over the guard rail to get out of his way, and he waved.

I filled two trash bags, found a tire and a vacuum cleaner at the exit ramp northbound.  

I can see throwing a cigarette butt or a coffee cup out the window while waiting for the light to turn green, but a vacuum cleaner?  Who does that?

I hate to ask Keep Akron Beautiful to come pick this up, but I have no choice.  I can't get the vacuum cleaner and two bags of trash across this busy intersection three times!

My guess is it won't even be there tomorrow.  Who knows?

Then I went to the area off Wilbeth.  I knew there would be a lot of Memorial Day Weekend trash, and I was not wrong.  

I was picking up trash on the playground, and an SUV turned the corner and a bottle flew out!  It didn't break, so I just had to pick up the bottle, not sweep up glass.  I hate sweeping up glass, especially on the road. 

So I cleaned around three dumpsters.  It was so gross, but now it's all clean.  I was out 4 1/2 hours today, and two sweet little girls helped me pick up trash.  A little boy walking by asked me if he could put his trash in my bucket.  I truly love the kids I meet.

4,977 pieces of trash is really HUGE!  I cleaned seven streets, and I was so tired.

See that little bit of red in the corner?  That is my car.  I was almost done, and I saw this on the sidewalk where children were playing football.

In the 2 1/2 years I've been picking up trash, I've never seen anything like this.  What was it?  Where did it come from?  It wasn't there when I started out, or I would have probably gone home. 

I got down on my hands and knees and started picking up this glass.  My cut-resistant gloves did a great job, but "cut-resistant" means I could still get cut, and I did.  But not bad.  A little Neosporin and a bandaid, and I'll be good as new.

I swept the sidewalk and got as much glass out of the grass as I could.  I warned the kids that there was still glass there in the grass, and they shouldn't play there.

What was it?  Why?  Wouldn't you think if it was an accident, that the person who did this would be picking up this dangerous mess?

You would surely think so.

When I emptied all the glass into the dumpster, I found the answer.  It was a TV.  

Shame on the person who broke this TV, most likely by accident, and didn't even think to start cleaning it up.  Shame on them!

I picked up 14,446 pieces of trash over the Memorial Day Weekend.  I was hoping for a really big weekend, and I didn't disappoint myself.  I gave it everything I had.

I only have 24,000 pieces to go to reach my goal of one million pieces! 

The first thing I'm going to do when I reach my goal is take a day off.