Week 64 – All that G-litters is not Gold

Ben and I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and a warm winter Solstice greetings to all. Tis’ the season to “give” and we thought it would be a wonderful idea that after all the hub-bub subsided Christmas morning that we give our planet a little Christmas present and fill a couple buckets with litter.

It felt good to do something for our community.  In my haste to leave work on Wednesday I forgot to drop off the donated food to Northwest Harvest.  I had to shamefully sneak back in my office yesterday on Christmas Eve and drop the food off at the food bank…too late for donations to the needy.  I know that they can still use the food after Christmas, but the whole point was to make someone’s Christmas dinner a tad bit merrier if possible.  So when Ben suggested a litter pick up on Christmas morning I jumped all over the possibility of redeeming myself.

It was a beautiful Christmas morning here in Seattle with the blue skies and sun peering through the trees with just a fine layer of frost covering everything.  The frost even covered all the litter we picked up which just goes to show you that “all that glitters is not gold.”

Week 63 – Burien Ground

We’re not sure if it’s the holidays or the bitter cold but we are finding it very difficult to find time for our weekly bucket pick up. Ben had to work extra hours and between the kids and the rain we just couldn’t seem to make it work.  This is the second missed week where we needed to pick up four buckets to make up for lost time.

When the constant rain and bitter cold turned to 40 degree weather and just a gentle mist, we headed out quickly before the weather turned on us once again.  We can’t help but wonder why it has been so difficult making the time where as last year we didn’t even miss a week during a massive snow storm.

Maybe because it’s not a new adventure, maybe it’s because our current administration (our initial muse) has had more uphill climbs than we anticipated and we’re feeling the effects.

Maybe the newness has worn off, but during these trying times we must pull together, make the best of it and forge ahead.  Four buckets in the cold mist amongst the massive debris near the airport in Burien made for a quick pick up.

We couldn’t even see the loud airplanes overhead.  We knew they were there as they rumbled in the dark gray clouds.  63 weeks and 4 buckets later we looked back at the tire and garbage ridden area and could barely see a dent.  But I liken our efforts to the invisible planes overhead…we can’t see it but we believe it’s headed in the right direction.

Week 61 – Oh SNAP!

Thanksgiving preparations and merriment consumed our time last week so we skipped a week and wish we hadn’t. A cold snap has Seattle in it’s grips and we faced the bitter cold for a four bucket litter pickup yesterday!

We headed to a desolate industrial area just below the West Seattle bridge and fortunately filled our four buckets quickly as the bitter cold wind had us both shivering.

As we all head towards Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Pagan Yule, Christmas, Festivus, etc let us all remember that this is the giving season. Why don’t some of you reading this head out and fill a bucket or bag with litter and give a wonderful gift to the planet that gives us life?

Happy Holidays to you all, stay warm and be happy!

Week 59 – Giving Thanks

With Thanksgiving on the horizon, Ben and I have almost whipped ourselves into a frenzy.  We’re hosting our favorite holiday this year with those we love.  We have so much to be thankful for and we are so lucky to have family and friends so close to make it special.

Before we sought after the largest turkey we could find, we headed to an abandoned spot in West Seattle to quickly fill a couple buckets.  Talk about bounty!  But we give thanks for where we live and the people we live near and we do our part to help the community as much as we can.

Speaking of help, we also help with collecting donations to Seattle’s Northwest Harvest. They are a wonderful organization who helps in feeding the hungry.  Please visit their website to find out about their convenient drop off locations or giving in other ways.

Last year when we dropped off buckets of food that had been collected at my work place the people who worked there ran to help us in the rain.  They commented on the hundreds of pounds of food that had already gone out that day and the thousands of people they had lined up the previous day.

Picking up (in more ways than one) and dropping off never felt so good.

 

 

 

Week 57 AND 58!

Our colds came back in force.  Blame it on the lack of sleep which induced lethargic picker uppers.  We skipped week 57 <gasp>.  The constant cold, rain, runny noses and fevers made it an easy decision.

Ben was convinced we had the Swine flu.  Speaking of Swine Flu, thanks to our voters, my pumpkin (Swine flu pumpkin) won last week’s Halloween contest!  Of course we both looked like my pumpkin for awhile.

Happily we are feeling much better and picked up 4 buckets this weekend to make up for last weekend.  Even with all the fall leaves covering up the streets, we had an easy time picking up 4 buckets of litter.

Week 56 – Halloweenies

Ben and I did a quick pick up today after work.  We had every intention of picking up litter on Sunday but we were still recovering from our colds.  Or maybe it was the debauchery at the Halloween party we went to on Saturday night. 

Ben carried his parasitic twin Sven upon his chest and I went as the Octomom. We brought our pumpkins for all to see and our 3rd annual pumpkin carving contest of Ben vs.  Lori is now under way so click here to vote for your favorite!

Either way, we weenie-d out and went for an easy pick up of litter at the bus stop on 35th which, unfortunately, never disappoints.   Five minutes and two buckets later we were done.

Hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween.  If you haven’t already, don’t forget to vote!

Week 55 – Sick of Litter

<cough cough>

After taking a few days off to show Cami our gray, cold city…I finally came down with whatever virus is going around our office.  Thank goodness I was able to squeeze in some tourist time before I lost my voice and energy.

A quick pick up of litter on Saturday when the sun peeked through for a few minutes was welcoming.  Ben’s taking excellent care of me and Cami is safely back in Portland.

Five minutes and two buckets later we were done.  Don’t forget to stay tuned next week for our annual Halloween Pumpkin Contest.  Winner takes all!  Bwahahaha… <cough cough>…ow.

Week 54 – Fall Over Dead

“the year is dying.”  Paul Dunbar

For the girl who comes from the land of no seasons, it took awhile for me to appreciate the fall.  The Northwest does not have the true fall colors of the East coast but we have the brilliant reds and yellows that are reminiscent of that last fizz right before that New Year’s sparkler goes out.  Just a burst of “look at me!” before it hibernates for the long winter.

Ben and I had a busy Abby birthday weekend and went for a fast pick up before my niece Cami’s arrival for her college break tomorrow.  We drove through our normal “quick-picker-upper” places and were surprised how clean the area looked.  With a closer look we realized the fallen leaves left a pretty blanket of color to cover the clutter.

Five minutes and two buckets later we were back in the car headed for home.  Later that evening I called my sister to let her know that I would bring Cami to the mall to buy warmer Fall clothes.  She let me know how grateful she was and said Cami described the Northwest as “the air-conditioner being turned on outside.”  Very cute.

The antithesis to the Spring awakening is the Fall who dies a spectacular death.

Week 53 – Happy Anniversary!

Since traditionally paper is given to couples on their one year anniversary it was apropos that we picked up lots of paper on our first anniversary. It was a little windy and there was a definite nip in the air as we picked up litter this week.

Fall is here in Seattle and in our quest for that perfect soup; we headed to the local farmer’s market in West Seattle with a quick pick up at the park across the street from the market.

What a beautiful day! Yellow and red leaves scattered ever so poetically, children laughing in the park playing in the leaves and parents screaming at their soccer children to run faster.  Except for the last part, it was the perfect day and a wonderful place to commemorate our one year anniversary.

Looking back, we had no idea that we would accomplish so much.  We are very proud of our accomplishments and even prouder of our tenacity.

53 weeks

104 buckets

approximately 424 lbs of trash collected and recycled

Not bad huh?  How did it all start (if you are really curious you will see our first post of Oct 12th)? I remember Ben turning to me and saying, “How can we help in our small way to give back to our community?”  It seems easy and selfless….which it has been and is.  There have been a couple of times when one of us has said….”can we skip this week?” I’m flashing back to the massive snow storm in Seattle where we could barely walk a few feet in the snow much less find trash in the streets and we are always, always, always happy that we did go out that day.

We made memories… like that time I thought I found a dead deer in the ravine and it was a poor dog which mortified Abby (Ben’s daughter) and the time we walked through the mysteriously cool fog through Lincoln Park.  Some weeks are better than others but we never lose focus and reason why we are doing “this”…picking up trash every week.  It seems small and almost senseless, but in our small way, we feel we are giving something back.  We are giving something to our community, giving something to our children and giving something to ourselves.

It’s been a wonderful reflection on our first year.  We will again channel Obama’s humble speech as he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize and said he would accept this award as a call to action as other nations as the well as the US  journey to find peace.  We have begun a momentum that can change history.  Well, maybe Ben and I can’t change history, but we can make a difference in what we see as our “small call to action.”

Week 52- Under the Bridge

“I drive on her streets… cause she’s my companion
I walk through her hills… ’cause she knows who I am
She sees my good deeds, and she kisses me windy”

The lyrics seemed apropos even though the Chili Peppers are, of course, not talking about picking up litter under a bridge.    Nevertheless, on the cusp of our one year anniversary (our first litter pick up was Oct 12th 2008 – I dare you to check) we went to a new spot under the West Seattle bridge and filled two buckets.

Seattle has such cool “under the bridge” sights.  For example we have the Fremont Troll and the cool sand worm looking things on Elliott Ave that leads to the Sculpture Park.    Unfortunately, besides the cool looking attractions, we have a lot of litter and homelessness under our bridges.

It would be wonderful if we could bridge the gap between ourselves and our readers and see if we can get more Bucket Heads to volunteer by our one year anniversary next week.  We promise we’ll post your selfless endeavor on our site and commend you as we reminisce how it all started.