Week 45 – Do the Right Thing

Several weeks ago we were interviewed on AM 1090’s Community Matters (to listen to our interview, click here). We do strongly believe that community matters. Today we attended a rally at the Tacoma News Tribune demanding a public option for health care. To take a look at Lori (black shirt at the counter) and me (red shirt to the right of Lori) in this picture click here.

This evening we headed out to pick up litter from the same stretch of roadway that we’ve hit for the past three weeks. We are making a dent but there’s still enough to lead us back to the same spot next week.

During our radio interview, Lee Callahan asked us if we have ever found anything interesting while picking up litter. We answered, “not really”. Well today that all changed.  While filling two buckets we found a registration holder (like those that would hang over your car’s sun visor). We immediately thought that a car thief had thrown this holder out the window and into the wooded area on Sylvan Way in West Seattle.

Being the community oriented people that we are, we have spent the last forty-five minutes trying to contact the non-emergency police line to no avail. While it is frustrating to not reach a police officer, we will persevere.

Just like we will continue to support health care reform, the bottle bill, the bag tax AND pick up a bucket of litter every week.  What will you DO?

Week 44 – It’s just not my bag, baby!

On August 18th, Seattle residents will have the opportunity to let their voices be heard regarding the Seattle Bag Fee.  Referendum 1 is a $.20 fee per bag on all disposable bags at grocery, drug and convenience stores.

After reading all the pros and cons of this particular referendum, Ben and I will definitely be voting a resounding “YES!”

The argument which is being pushed by out of state chemical companies is that people do reuse these plastic bags and that Seattle is already over-taxed in these trying economic times.

I do agree on both points but at the same time the pros for the referendum outweigh the cons.  For example, if you bring your own reusable bags, you will NOT pay anything.  Ads seem to lean towards the fact that you will be paying this fee with every purchase at the store.  This is not true.  These fees will be in place  to promote people to use their own reusable bags instead of the plastic bags the stores provide.

Some organizations have stated that in the long run there is no long-lasting effect of this bag fee.  This is also untrue.  These bags can last up to a 1000 years in our environment!  Other states have adopted similar programs and have seen a significant drop in plastic bag consumption.  Ireland, which is where we modeled our referendum, has seen a 90% decrease in plastic bag consumption.

Seattle uses more than 300 million of these bags per year which end up in our oceans and littering our streets.    Ben and I have been filling buckets with litter for almost a year now and have picked up hundreds of these plastic bags.

Sure, it’s a bit of on inconvenience to remember to bring reusable bags to the store, but it is an even bigger inconvenience to pick up these disposable bags every week.

The polls seem to show that this will be tough referendum to get passed, so vote “YES” on referendum 1 or please support similar legislation in your city. It’s not in the bag…yet!

Week 43- Message in the Bottles

Recently we were approached by one of our readers who is actively lobbying our State Legislators to enact a Bottle Bill in Washington similar to our neighbors in Oregon. We love this idea and went out this morning in search of bottles.

In only ten minutes we filled two buckets (overflowing) with fifty four bottles from a nearby roadside. Oregon refunds $.05 per bottle returned which means that Lori and I would’ve been paid $2.70 for ten minutes of easy labor! If our great State were to enact a similar bottle bill, I know plenty of of kids and adults who would love to make extra money gathering bottles from the roadside. Also a deposit would force people to think twice about throwing a bottle (or can) out of their car, hopefully also preventing them from tossing other litter as well.

I spent some time last week emailing our Governor and State Representatives asking them to take a look at enacting a bottle bill, so far none of them have responded to my inquiries.

Please make your voice heard on this important topic. For more info on Bottle Bills around the U.S. including an easy look-up for your Legislator’s email addresses, take a look at this great website: BottleBill.org

On another note, we have a radio interview scheduled next week that will air on Progressive Talk AM-1090’s Community Matters with Lee Callahan Sunday August 9th at 11AM.  Also check us out on their Eco-Minute broadcasts throughout the week.

Week 42 – She Blows Hot and Cold

With the last “real” rain in Seattle back in faraway May and the continuous talk of the record heat this week,  Ben and I were not looking forward to picking up litter.  Sleepless nights were abound a la Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

Ben channeled  Week 11 where it was so cold and so snowy we could barely walk along the West Seattle streets hunting for litter.  “Do you remember the scene where Steve Buscemi tried to hide the money and he walked to the fence and looked to the left and to the right and all he saw was snow and barbed wire?  Now that is cold!”

I tried to get Fargo wrapped around my brain and all I could come up with was hot and heavy Bogie and the shy, demure Lauren Bacall.  Ceiling fans barely cutting into the steam of the day… and their minds.  “You know how to whistle don’t you?  You just put your lips together and blow…”

We broke down this week and bought an air conditioner for the bedroom.  No more Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as we wait for Mother Nature to make the call…”You feeling lucky? Well, do ya punk?”

Yeah, we felt pretty lucky, two more for our Bucket List.

Week 41- Litter is Everyone’s Business

Ben’s parents were in town and we managed to catch a part of West Seattle’s annual Hi-Yu parade.  Hi-Yu (according to their website) means “much, plenty, abundance” in Chinook jargon.

As we watched the parade participants in the queue waiting their turn to start, we noticed all the litter on the ground.  Talk about “abundance!” Ben and I agreed to follow the parade route when we talked about our litter pick-up the next day. We thought it would be the perfect way to give back to our community.  We have such wonderful events available in our backyard…the West Seattle Fair the week before and this week the pirates, clowns and marching bands on parade.

Unfortunately we barely got out of the parking lot of the Admiral Safeway.  We started down the sidewalk heading towards Hiawatha field and just made it to the start of the parade route before our buckets were full.  Granted, the Safeway parking lot was mostly full of Jack-in-the-Box litter but between the two businesses you would think they would be able to keep their lots and surrounding sidewalks litter free.

Last night we were lucky enough to watch the Pow Wow at Discovery Park.  They spoke of their people, their culture, and of the precious land… making sure to give thanks.

As the old Indian proverb  goes…”Treat the earth well, It was not given to you by your parents, It was loaned to you by your children.”

Week 40 – Neighborhood Cleanup

As usual we had a busy weekend so we headed out to pick up litter after work tonight. Lori had the great idea to head down the hill to an exceptionally dirty spot in W. Seattle on 35th near the bus stop, Redline, and KFC.

We pulled out of traffic and were immediately staring at more than two buckets full right in front of us! We like finding these nasty spots because our efforts are quite noticeable.  Another added bonus is that we both drive by this location on the way to work so we can admire the clean spot every morning (well, every morning until it gets trashed again).

You would be amazed at how quickly you can fill a bucket with litter, today we spent no longer than five minutes and cleaned up a particularly littered place in our community.

Week 39 – New Found Glory

Happy 4th of July everyone!  We celebrated in style as our founding fathers did with food, flags and fireworks.  Ben found a bunch of flags at a garage sale for $.25 and littered them throughout the yard so he could watch Old Glory wave as he slowly grilled the essential BBQ ribs.

Later that evening as we watched the fireworks display downtown from our deck we heard fire trucks and police cars with their sirens blaring.  We could hear fireworks nearby and assumed the police were after the illegal  celebrations.

In the hopes that we could pick up buckets of firecracker litter we headed to Dragonfly Park where we assumed people were lighting firecrackers.  To our surprise we found old litter  throughout the streets and a few pieces of rubbish in the park but no firecracker remnants.

As we disposed of our litter in the park trash can, lo’ and behold… it was full of exploded firecrackers and bottle rockets.  It’s nice to know that even though they might have been illegally setting of fireworks, they were kind enough to dispose of their rubbish in the appropriate bins.

Let’s keep America, The Beautiful!

Week 38 – Gandhi Baby Gone

Gandhi wrote, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”.

Lori and I attempt to change the world every week but we need your help. We’ve been doing this litter clean-up thing for almost a year and so far we’ve only had three Earth lovers join our cause.

I promise you that filling a bucket will (sadly) only require 10-15 minutes of your time. Today is a great example, we headed out to the local big box hardware store to buy a couple bags of bark and stopped on the way to pick up litter. We seriously improved a trashy area in only 10 minutes and left feeling like we make a difference. Won’t you join us?

Week 37 – A New Outlook

After a very productive weekend of helping Ben’s parents put in a new patio, we cautiously took a breather and picked up litter on Monday instead of our usual Sunday.  The patio looks great, by the way…there is something about hard work and seeing something tangible at the finish line.  It was worth every blister and ache.

We limped about today after work adding to our bucket collection.  We visited a usually dirty spot near the old high school but with all the overgrown grass and bushes we could barely find anything.  It took some effort to fill our buckets… but then again, “The difference between try and triumph is a little umph!” (unknown)

Week 36 – Hertz Donut

After an exhausting weekend moving the college kid back home, Ben and I decided to go to Costco and stock up.  We hoped to pick up litter near Costco and kill two birds with one stone.  We didn’t  have to go very far and stopped at the Hertz rental company which is adjacent to Costco.

We previously had picked up in front of Hertz awhile ago and had hoped that they were pleasantly surprised with their clean area and kept it up!  Unfortunately it looked just as disgusting as last time.

Our tired bodies were happy that it took about five minutes to fill two buckets.  Hertz..don’t it?