[Previous entry: "Islanders Encouraged to Look for Bluebirds"] [Next entry: "Calling Playwrights And Local History Enthusiasts"]

03/26/2007: "Litter Tally Tells A Dirty Story"

By David Dehlendorf

Last Thursday while some were working, playing golf, watching the opening round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, or otherwise occupied, 18 members of the Trash Masters volunteer group picked up litter from the entire length of Roche Harbor Road.

The clean-up occurred exactly one month since Trash Masters last cleaned up the same road on February 15. As she does each month, Patt Martin, Litter Crew Coordinator for Public Works, collected the bags of litter afterwards and weighed them at the transfer station. As usual, the numbers were disappointing: 200 lbs. of litter in 25 bags occupying approximately 30 square feet.

In an attempt to better understand the litter problem on San Juan Island, for the first time four intrepid Trash Masters took an extra step last week beyond our normal monthly clean-up activity: we dumped out the litter at the transfer station, separated it into various categories, and measured it. It was almost as much fun as white-washing a fence!

Here is how one month’s litter on Roche Harbor Road broke down:

1. 194 beer bottles and cans;
2. 13 bottles of other alcoholic beverages;
3. 90 soft drink, water, milk and other non-alcoholic beverage containers;
4. 76 candy, snack and other food wrappers;
5. More than 500 cigarette butts and 21 cigarette packages;
6. Seven car parts (mirrors, hub caps, etc.);
7. 38 numbered ferry windshield tags;
8. Two trash can lids;
9. Approximately 6 cubic ft. of various forms of plastic;
10. Approximately 5 cubic ft. of various forms of paper;
11. Approximately 20 lbs. of various metal, wood, and ceramic objects;
12. Seven items of clothing; and
13. Approximately 4 cubic ft. of small miscellaneous items, including packaging popcorn.

Close up of 500 cigarette butts and 21 cigarette packages

The San Juan Island Anti-Litter Initiative will discuss these results in coming weeks to determine how the information might best be used in its litter prevention efforts.

In the meantime, here are some possible key conclusions:

1. Most of the litter by weight was intentionally discarded. Litter that quite obviously had blown out of the back of trucks was at a minimum, perhaps as a result of the Anti-Litter Initiative’s recent “Secure Your Load!”campaign. (Thank you!) Cans, bottles, cigarette butts, metal objects, etc. generally do not blow out of vehicles en route to the transfer station.
2. There is a serious drinking and driving problem on our island.
3. There are a lot of smokers who have no respect for the environment and discard their butts from car windows while driving, or onto the ground while walking.
4. The two trash can lids are proof that everyone does not yet tie down their lids when they transport cans in their pick up trucks.
5. Washington State Ferries must find a way to remove tags from vehicles before ferries arrive on our island, or better yet eliminate their tagging system completely. Unless something is done about it, at the height of the tourist season this summer, thousands of ferry tags will end up each month as litter along island roads.

What You Can Do Starting Today
• Secure your load. Tie down trash can lids.
• Don’t drink and drive.
• If you smoke, dispose of your cigarette butts and packages in a responsible manner, showing respect for the environment.
• Even if you don’t drink and drive, or don’t dispose of cigarette butts irresponsibly, if you know someone who does, please make them aware that their behavior has a negative impact on the safety and beauty of our island.
• Talk to your kids about disposing of bottles and food wrappers in trash receptacles rather than just dropping them wherever they happen to be.
• Be considerate of others. It is wrong for litterers to be disrespectful of others by making their litter someone else’s problem. Respect your island the way you respect the homes of yourself, your family, your friends, and your neighbors.
• Remove ferry tags from your windshield before driving your vehicle off the ferry in Friday Harbor.
• Until the litter problem is eliminated at its source, volunteer to clean-up island roads and beaches.

David Dehlendorf is a volunteer with the Trash Masters Litter Clean-Up Group