Over the course of two hours, four volunteers retrieved about 70 pounds of garbage in the rain from along the Connecticut River, including by the channel near the North Meadows Storage Pond. This is in a well-maintained park — not an area that’s completely ignored — and while some of the litter may have been left by park visitors, most was obviously deposited when the river has flooded.
This small group was part of the Connecticut River Conservancy’s Source to Sea Cleanup, an annual event that inventories and removes litter from in and around the river and its tributaries. Because it started to rain heavily at the end of the cleanup, we bent the rules and did not get an exact tally of the trash, but we know what was there and what was missing.
There were a few oddball items, like a fluorescent light bulb, fuel can, and a golf ball, though the nearest golf course is about two miles away. The bulk of the trash was beverage containers, chip/snack bags, and foam. As aggravating as it is to pick up trash more than once from the same site, it does make a difference. There were a handful of straws — a significant decrease from what I’ve seen in past years. There were a few plastic bags, but also far fewer than in past years. I saw no cigarette butts. It’s not like any of these decreases naturally happened. Plastic straws are no longer placed in cups by default everywhere; some establishments use different lids instead of straws, some restaurants provide them by request only. Single-use plastic bags have been banned in Connecticut. Before the legislation, you would absolutely be pulling bag-after-bag out of trees, the water, pretty much everywhere. We know that making smoking very expensive and very inconvenient has changed behavior.
Rain postponed some of the weekend’s planned events, which means that if you wanted to help and missed out, there may be other opportunities this year, including another cleanup in Hartford on Saturday, September 30, 2023. This group will be working from 9 AM until noon along the Park River’s North Branch. Meet at the Hartford Seminary (AKA Hartford International University for Religion & Peace) at 76 Sherman Street and register in advance so organizers know to expect you.
Reading Trash
Over the course of two hours, four volunteers retrieved about 70 pounds of garbage in the rain from along the Connecticut River, including by the channel near the North Meadows Storage Pond. This is in a well-maintained park — not an area that’s completely ignored — and while some of the litter may have been left by park visitors, most was obviously deposited when the river has flooded.
This small group was part of the Connecticut River Conservancy’s Source to Sea Cleanup, an annual event that inventories and removes litter from in and around the river and its tributaries. Because it started to rain heavily at the end of the cleanup, we bent the rules and did not get an exact tally of the trash, but we know what was there and what was missing.
There were a few oddball items, like a fluorescent light bulb, fuel can, and a golf ball, though the nearest golf course is about two miles away. The bulk of the trash was beverage containers, chip/snack bags, and foam. As aggravating as it is to pick up trash more than once from the same site, it does make a difference. There were a handful of straws — a significant decrease from what I’ve seen in past years. There were a few plastic bags, but also far fewer than in past years. I saw no cigarette butts. It’s not like any of these decreases naturally happened. Plastic straws are no longer placed in cups by default everywhere; some establishments use different lids instead of straws, some restaurants provide them by request only. Single-use plastic bags have been banned in Connecticut. Before the legislation, you would absolutely be pulling bag-after-bag out of trees, the water, pretty much everywhere. We know that making smoking very expensive and very inconvenient has changed behavior.
Rain postponed some of the weekend’s planned events, which means that if you wanted to help and missed out, there may be other opportunities this year, including another cleanup in Hartford on Saturday, September 30, 2023. This group will be working from 9 AM until noon along the Park River’s North Branch. Meet at the Hartford Seminary (AKA Hartford International University for Religion & Peace) at 76 Sherman Street and register in advance so organizers know to expect you.
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