Good Morning Red Wing | Sunrise 2019-05-05
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Sunrise
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.
As the water recedes there remains an unfortunate scene. If it were only driftwood and leaves, no worries would there be. The plastic though – six pack rings, soda and booze bottles, snuff and worm containers and butane lighters litter the shore in Bay City Bay. You can see the line of debris on the road in the photos below.
It’s troubling to see. The Styrofoam chunks. The flip flops and sandals missing their other half. Unbroken light bulbs even. The trash. It’s an ugly sight in such a beautiful place. A very small sample of 2,320 miles of Mississippi River shoreline.
Plastic pollution is terrible. Everyone has seen what is happening in the oceans. I see this a lot in the local trout streams I fish. My fishing net is most often full of cans, bottles and plastic worm containers each time I leave the stream. My wife and I constantly retrieve plastic bottles from the Bay City area while kayaking. Each and every time I encounter this, I utter to myself, “what the hell is wrong with people?” I understand that plastic is extremely useful – especially in healthcare. How some can so carelessly discard it is beyond comprehension. This is only going to get worse unless people start thinking beyond the convenience of today.
Litter is every town’s dirty little secret. No one wants to admit how ugly it is, or the fact that it is getting worse despite decades of anti-litter education such as those early-’70s posters and commercials whose taglines were “Don’t be a litterbug” and “Give a hoot. Don’t pollute.”The dirtiest part of this dirty secret is that many if not most litterers are young. They’re not so young that they don’t realize what they’re doing. They’re cognizant enough to acquire the snacks and cigarettes in the first place, to choose from a selection of products and brands and pay for their selections. When they litter, they know they’re littering.
~www.psychologytoday.com
Some people litter because they’ve come to believe that whatever they do, others will pick up after them. They have no sense of responsibility. This idea was confirmed by a veteran California highway patrolman who reported that in his twenty years-plus of pulling drivers over for tossing litter out their car windows — a misdemeanor punishable by fines of up to $1,000 — not once had an offender ever apologized once caught. They either denied having littered or shrugged off the act as insignificant ~ Rob Wallace, Keep America Beautiful
National Geographic WE MADE PLASTIC. WE DEPEND ON IT. NOW WE’RE DROWNING IN IT. phys.org Beyond the oceans—microplastics pollute rivers and lakes, too inlandwaterwaysinternational.org Prevent plastic pollution in waterways Adopt-A-Drain A initiative to keep trash out of the waterways
The Irish Times Talking rubbish: what makes people litter? End Littering Keep America Beautiful
Images of Trenton Island by the Woodshed on Friday March 29th, 2019.
Images surrounding Llyod Spriggle Memorial Bridge and Mr. Sippi’s on Friday March 29th, 2019. The water is high and the current moving strong.
Friday morning, March 29th, 2019 sunrise over the Mississippi River flowing high and wide in Red Wing, MN. Scenes from the levee and Bay Point Park.
The setting sun last Saturday cooperated nicely. The clouds and color made a spectacular appearance. The high and wide Mississippi was smooth as glass and reflected the sky nicely.
Last Saturday was a beautiful day to fly and capture the rising water around the Red Wing Levee and bridge construction. The mighty Mississippi is wide and muddy. The National Weather Service forecast indicates that the water is going to get a bit higher yet, but nothing close 20.70 ft back on 04/18/1965 thankfully.
