FIREWORKS DEBRIS . . . OH NO!

 

First thing this morning, I headed to Lake Anna, in Barberton, thinking there would be a lot of trash to pick up after the big Labor Day celebration.  I parked in the same spot I parked in last night, and the two plastic cups I saw were still there, so I knew nobody from the City had picked anything up yet.

I saw this Dad teaching his little boy how to fish.  I caught the little boy asking his Dad a question.

Oh, he was fun to talk to!  He said he lives in Akron, but he comes to Barberton to fish.

What a beautiful day to be at Lake Anna.  I'm so glad I'm picking up trash here now.  It's so much more rewarding. 

I saw a water bottle near the Canadian Geese.  They were all resting, but they swam off when I got close.

I picked up 3,752 pieces of trash in four hours today.  2,500 pieces were fireworks debris.  The rest was bottles and cans, food wrappers, and cigarette butts.

Here you can see a pile of pop cans.  People here don't toss stuff around.  They still litter, but they put all their trash in a neat little pile.

So many people walking around Lake Anna to get their exercise stopped to chat.  They always started off with, "There's so much trash!"  And I would say, "You need to come to Akron.  This is very, very clean."

One super nice man was walking with his little girl.  He told me how they go out once a week in Cuyahoga Falls and pick up trash together.  I told him I have trash grabbers and buckets, for FREE!  

I really enjoyed talking to him.  He's a good Dad teaching his daughter how to take care of our planet! 

There are four port-a-potties over by the gazebo.  I peeked inside and there was trash that needed picked up in each one.

I was half way around the lake when I saw THE FIREWORKS DEBRIS!  I almost passed out.  I had been picking up trash for two hours, and I had to reset my timer for two more hours.

I just kept counting the pieces and tried not to think about how much there was.  

I've picked up big messes in Akron.  Main Street always looked like this when the landscapers mowed over trash, but it was still a lot when I thought I was almost done.

This is how the whole area looked.  I picked up 2,500 pieces and said to myself, "That's good enough. The Sanitation Department will pick up the rest, or I'll get it next time."

I had a thought as I walked away that since Barberton puts on huge fireworks shows every year, maybe they have a machine that picks up fireworks debris.  So maybe all this hard work was for nothing.

But then I thought, "What if they don't?  They will really appreciate my effort." 

Here's how it looks now.  

I filled my trash bag.  That's how much there was.

I kept cleaning as I worked my way back to my car, and I found this secret spot where it looks like kids were eating Starburst candy while they were waiting for the fireworks to begin.  What a mess!

Can you imagine sitting under the shade of a tree with a pack of Starburst, pulling the wrappers off each piece, and just getting up and leaving all the wrappers there?  

Even when I was a little kid, I didn't do stuff like that.  Squished together, all those wrappers wouldn't take up much room in a pocket.

As I turned the corner and could see my car, I noticed a McDonald's breakfast sandwich wrapper on the other side of the fence where the mums are growing.  Again, who does something like this?

Luckily, I could reach over the fence and pick it up with my trash grabber, but that person had to make an effort to throw it over the fence.  Why didn't they throw it in a trash can? 

It seems to me that the world needs educated on how to dispose of trash properly.  Leaving it where you happen to be when finished is incorrect.  Finding a trash can is correct.

Trash cans are very easy to find in Barberton.