AS THE WATER RECEDES | Part 2
I wanted to provide an update on a previous post, AS THE WATER RECEDES – Bay City, WI #plasticpolution. Earth Day seemed like a great time to do so.
The water was receding and making progress, but snow melt in Northern Minnesota and recent rains has the water level on the rise once again. I’ve made several trips to Bay City since cleanup effort on Saturday April 6th, watching and waiting for the water level to go down. The Village of Bay City has made great efforts in cleaning up the debris that washed ashore at Saratoga Park.
It was happy to see that only traces of garbage remain.
If you were ever looking for a bit of driftwood, I would think now would be the perfect time to find whatever shape/size you desire. There are numerous piles that have been gathered up.
What boggles my mind though is there was a fresh Mountain Dew can laying on the side of the road. I still struggle with what goes through the mind of the individual that discards a soda can. It isn’t that difficult to recycle.
It was encouraging to see that the campground area was mostly devoid of trash. During the mechanical clean up, more worm and snuff containers turned up. There is a whole lot of natural debris; cleaning that up will take some work. If only one could snap their fingers to change the hearts and minds of those who seeming don’t give a hoot. It’s a process. Tell people how you feel about this sort of thing; make your opinion known whenever and where ever you can. Plastic pollution is terrible, it’s ugly and it horrible for the wildlife.
I agree that I cannot fathom the mind of those who casually discard their trash where ever they please. Do they do this in their own homes? Thanks for showing the ugliness of this and the goodness of the people who take part in the clean-up!
It saddens me every time I come across litter in a wild place, or anywhere for that matter. I recently discovered a beer can neatly placed on a tree stump in Jay Cooke State Park. How hard could it be to carry it another 100 yards to the recycling container?
I don’t know if stiffer penalties would help, but I would be in favor of trying it. The whole mess left behind by ice fishing houses – huge fine and no fishing license for x years + 2,000 hours of community service specifically picking up trash. Toss litter from you car – kiss your license goodbye for a period of time. This behavior has got to stop.