In regards to the expanded bottle bill which would include water bottles, juice bottles, when you are doing your Community Clean Ups what do you find to be the worst litter items?
I have a theory that after cigarette butts, that it be styrofoam cups and plastic bags that get blown around in the wind, followed by plastic water and juice bottles that lay fallow since there’s no deposit on them.
So Donna, focus on the question, if you have time respond in the comment section to this post in list form what you see as the number
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Worst litter items around town?
Not only am I all in on the expansion of the bottle bill but I’d be all in for banning styrofoam coffee cups for take out and a 2 cent plastic bag at the grocery store.
Here’s yesterday’s Bottle Bill Post-
Good Morning Gloucester 
Number 1: The careless of people with their personal items.
Number 2: Cigarette butts plus the cartons these nasty items come in
Number 3: Scratch lottery tickets
Number 4: On the State Pier, the plastic bags just left there after the fisherman leave. I bring a bag and pick up and there is a person, who patrols the pier, who will take the trash bags and dispose of them properly.
Number 5: Plastic bottles, I do not understand how people can just leave them on the street, beach, out on the Chasm,
and in DogTown.
Oh Poop bags, yikes
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I can answer for #1 without needing to go look. It’s Dunkin’ Donuts plastic cups and styro mugs. Their litter lies all over New England. Every beach cleanup I’ve ever gone to picks up hundreds of DD cups as litter. I have been thinking it’s time to start asking this company to be accountable and help campaign against litter, or fund outdoor cleanups across the region. They sell a product that’s almost 100% to go, and the put it in non-biodegradable containers, and then lazy people toss them out the window, leave them on the curb, or drop them in the sand. It’s a problemI think they should step up to help solve.
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I walk around town for my job. By far, it’s Dunkin Donut litter.I agree, they need to be resonsible for this in some way. Second would be beer cans,tiny liquor bottles.
Third,depending on where I am walking,dog poop.
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Saw firsthand how easily a DD cup can be tossed with complete disregard. One was thrown and a landed right on my windshield going down 128 one morning. That being said, Dunkin Donut can not be responsible for every rude, lazy person that tosses their trash. I’m in TOTAL agreement that since a Dunkin is on virtually every street corner that it’d be nice if they at least were proactive in bringing the massive litter problem to the forefront. Like that idea of funding a campaign against litter.
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I don’t think Dunks should be held responsible but I do like the idea of doing away with styrofoam cups in to-go establishments. Paper cups at Lone Gull, Pleasant Street and Cape Ann Coffees seem to work just fine.
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I understand DD can’t be everywhere to police every action. I agree that individuals should be responsible for themselves; but similarly, I believe businesses, and the individuals who run them, should also be responsible for themselves. That means not shrugging and claiming they weren’t involved when we see their non-biodegradable litter everywhere.They certainly do know they produce non-biodegradable items and send them out the doors, and I believe they should take some responsibility for the damage these things ultimately cause, since we know that not everyone will behave appropriately. The plastic cups are equally as bad as the styrofoam ones.
We won’t be able to manage our environmental health unless companies begin to look at the effects of their total supply chain. Messaging and campaigns, and donations to assist with litter cleanup,seems like a reasonable ask to me. And this is completely ignoring that they don’t degrade in a landfill, either, even when they are properly disposed of. This is a company that claims to love and be identified with New England. You can’t reap the benefits of that, and not help protect New England’s beauty and health, too.
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In order of annoyance or nuisance to pick up, cigarette butts, lottery tickets, nip bottles (Fireball is tops right now, supposed to feel like a roundhouse kick from Chuck Norris except his foot is on fire and sprinkled with cinnamon), styrofoam cups, and last but certainly not least dog turds in tightly knotted plastic bags.
Let’s talk about that last one for a second. 99% of the dogs walking on Cape Ann have seen a vet in the past two years so their poop is nicer than a human dukie. No worms, no disease, great fertilizer. So why in God’s green earth would someone bag their dog’s turd and then around the corner when no one can see they whip it into the woods? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD pick it up if she pinches a nice one off on your neighbor’s lawn but if you are going to flip it into the woods, keep the bag.
15,000 years from now after the next ice age archeologists are going to run into cigarette butts and dog poop in plastic bags. They are going to wonder what we were thinking.
Wildlife, birds, seagulls, wolfoties, raccoons rabbits, deer all do one thing every single day on Cape Ann. THEY SHIT IN THE WOODS! PROBABLE OVER THREE TONS PER DAY! That is where your dog’s poop should go but not hermetically sealed in a plastic bag.
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Joey’s list is pretty spot on. Dunks is a massive problem, especially because it is styrofoam, which breaks down into those tiny pellets that almost certainly fish and birds eat. At Niles the other night I picked up about 7 or 8 plastic bags that had washed up. Water and juice bottles are everywhere. I’m always amazed by people who buy water by the case. Beyond the deposit, how about investing in a nice water filter? It pays for itself in no time–and less extra plastic is created. And water is not being stolen from small towns in Maine, etc (look that up). A water filter, people. And re-usable coffee mugs. It’s not rocket science. Jay-sus, I’m getting all worked up over here–because I see it every single day.
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On dog poop: “Woof-woof waste does not a good fertilizer make…Beyond your grass, it has been estimated that a single gram of dog waste can contain 23 million fecal coliform bacteria, which are known to cause cramps, diarrhea, intestinal illness, and serious kidney disorders in humans. EPA even estimates that two or three days’ worth of droppings from a population of about 100 dogs would contribute enough bacteria to temporarily close a bay, and all watershed areas within 20 miles of it, to swimming and shell fishing.” (via http://www.doodycalls.com/resources-toxic-dog-waste/ Funny name, but there are about a gazillion other websites that offer this same information, as well as your local vet, shelter, etc.)
And via Science Friday on NPR: http://www.sciencefriday.com/blogs/09/11/2013/what-s-the-best-way-to-dispose-of-pet-poop.html?series=28
Most dogs don’t eat naturally, so their guts are a mess. So please pick up that poo!
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Saying a dog’s poo is full of fecal coliform is like saying dog poo is made of shit. 60% of your poop, a birds poop, a rabbit poop, deer, raccoon is fecal coliform also known as escherichia coli. It’s supposed to be. Don’t throw your dog’s poop in the ocean, throw it in the woods where everyone else poops. Six inches of dirt filtering removes all e. coli.
There is nothing special about a dog’s poop and their poop is healthier than most any other animal including us because they get more professional medical care than us or the bear in the woods.
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We live in an area that once had many vacant lots, and there was much home construction going on. The workers liked to throw McDonalds trash onto the street at the end of the day. This went on for many months. So I gathered a large trash bag of the stuff, and returned it to the manager at McDonalds, through the drive up window. He protested that he couldn’t be responsible to for the behavior of customers. I agreed on that point but told him he might have a role in getting the town cleaned up. It may have been total coincidence, but a week or so later the store went on an anti-trash campaign. Eventually, the problem abated, though I couldn’t say if the PR campaign helped. Perhaps the construction guys just moved on to greener lots. Has Dunkin Doughnuts made an effort to “educate”? They certainly would have an interest in not irritating would-be customers.
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Big pieces of litter are easy to see such as styrofoam cups, plastic grocery bags etc , but when it comes down to collecting and counting, there are a probably a much larger number of smaller pieces of litter and plastics.
A large percentage are food wrappers, and mostly pieces if them. Pieces of candy bar wrappers, chip bags, and a lot of unidentifiable wrappers . Just think that most food items are sealed in some sort of wrap or plastic. (As are so many other things we consume).
Other small pieces of plastic can come from anywhere if you think of it. The liner of old foul weather gear, a piece of car bumper from a ” fender bender”, construction cuttings from composite decking material. The list goes on.
The bigger pieces are easier to account for and locate their source, but the smaller pieces are not and often overlooked. The are often the unintentional culprits.
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All of the above are excellent – and like Pauls says on plastic bag’s and dog poop I hate to be the guy who has to take the plastic off…Fetilizer and sell it make big money…I came close to fighting a guy who decided to dump his car’s ash tray in front of my stairway to apartment…He did pick it up and in the process called me a few choice names oh well won’t be first or last time1 The ones they really get me are next to the trash can which is empty and throw it on the ground B/P 160/95…Dave
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