Tuesday, May 5, 2015

To Sort or Not to Sort

Arrived at the Lowell Road boat launch in Concord, MA early this afternoon to find this bit of trash neatly placed at the base of a tree.  The contents of the bags indicated a group of folks had spent an enjoyable day alongside the river emptying plastic water bottles, soda and beer cans, food packaging, and bait tubs.  Not finding a convenient trash receptacle, they left it on the ground where someone else would have to deal with it, hopefully before animals ripped open the bags.

In deciding to deal with it, my first decision would be whether to sort out the recyclables or not.  Oddly enough, only this morning I'd read an article in the Boston Globe about this very issue in the neighboring state of Vermont.  The article mentioned how a new Vermont law will require the separating of recyclables from rubbish, and wonders what effect this will have on next year's Green Up Day in which volunteers clean up litter throughout the state.  The article states "A waste management official said it would be nearly impossible to get volunteers to separate the trash, but it might be irrelevant, because recyclables collected alongside roads are usually too wet and dirty for recycling."  Really?  Most of the folks I know who volunteer to clean up litter are willing to separate out the recyclables.  It can be done while collecting by using different colored trash bags, or at the conclusion of the collection.  Collectors are already wearing gloves so it's just one additional step in the process and it brings about a better end result.   Too wet and dirty for recycling?  First time I've heard that.

This is how the trash looked before being sorted...

The same trash, after sorting out the recyclables...

My feeling is, if I'm going to take the time to clean up the trash, it's worth taking just a little more time to make sure the recyclable materials don't end up being buried or incinerated.

Either way, with the orphaned trash removed, the area looks better...

Once finished I launched my boat and enjoyed a fine Cinco de Mayo paddle of the Assabet River between Egg Rock and Route 2.

Water levels have dropped quite a bit as this look at the Egg Rock inscription reveals...

Plastic and Styrofoam trash was found snagged on branches a good foot or so above present water levels.

This was the trash found while out in my boat...

Getting ready to surf his way out of the mess was this little guy...

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