Good morning.

2 March 2025

There are certain behaviors among Americans that annoy the rest of us. One such behavior that comes to mind is littering. A significant portion of our population will just toss garbage onto the side of the road. McDonald's bags along the roadside are indicative of this behavior, and I always think, 'Really? You can't wait until there's a trash can available?' Another glaring example is the person who empties their car's ashtray onto the ground in a parking lot. Bottles, cans, and wrappers—oh my! Speaking of wrappers, the last people I hired to do some work on my yard left candy wrappers here and there, which I had to pick up. The irony was that their job was to rake leaves and pick up tree debris.

"There aren't many things that are universally cool, and it's cool not to litter. I'd never do it." - Matthew McConaughey

The Welly Wombles and the Eco Group, we’ve been out litter picking this morning. A perfect day for it too - mild, dry & sunny. I’ve just been and done a quick litter pick up and down half of my street too. There’s so much rubbish! Many thanks to the two keen teenage boys who retrieved a supermarket trolley from the edge of the water, and added it to our haul. #Litter

I think my dog has a drinking problem - I threw a ball into the water at Boden Boo Beach in Erskine today, and she came back with this! #onlyinglasgow

_The Evening Post_, 11 December 1924:
            A WORD TO SMOKERS
  The cigarette is wonderfully popular with those who spend an hour or so at [t]he #Thorndon baths, but not so with the caretaker, not that he is necessarily prejudiced against #smoking, but that he does object to smoking at the baths, since there results an annoying #litter and a certain #pollution of the water. Notice boards have been erected forbidding smoking, but bathers apparently are an illiterate race of people, and cannot read them rightly, and though #cigarettes go out in the line ahead of the patrolling caretaker they seemingly ignite spontaneously as he goes past. Appeals and notice boards having little effect, the Reserves Committee of the council has now decided upon a more formal method of discouragement, and has invited the #Police Department to detail a plainclothes constable to attend the baths as a guest and rough note-taker. Interesting comments upon the subject of smoking in public bath enclosures, in spite of plain warnings and prohibitions, may follow for those whose names may be noted down.
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19241211.2.95

There are little tragedies in life, like the fact that I drive by this sign every two weeks, and am never in the car with another person, a ring in a box, and some heavy mascara. I really want to take a picture here of someone trying to dump their partner and the partner angrily, with tear-smeared mascara, pointing to the sign.

Community protected by law on coast of Southeast Brazil is threatened by litter tourists leave on beach #Brazil #environment #tourism #tourists #litter https://phys.org/news/2024-11-community-law-coast-southeast-brazil.html

While doing some off-trail exploring in canyon country I came across this foil Happy Birthday balloon escapee. These balloons are awful when they decompose. They turn into millions of tiny foil flakes. I stuffed this one in my pocket, and now two weeks later, I'm still finding tiny foil flakes in my laundry. Please don't buy these balloons.

Little irritates me more than #litter discarded within a few steps on an actual litter bin. The most ironic litter must be energy drinks. Clearly not enough energy to walk an extra 6 steps to a bin then? #Lazy #Selfish

"Daisy chainsmoker"
#flickr #photography #flowers #litter
https://flic.kr/p/2qizgys

The rumors are true: I am here, now.

Recently I've been doing free bike repair, litter picking, tech help at the South Burlington Public Library, repair cafe events, and volunteering at food banks. I trained at United Bicycle Institute, worked in bike shops, and later for technology companies. Originally from Ashland, Oregon, I live in Shelburne, Vermont.

#cycling
#bicycles
#litter
#RepairCafe
#inequality
#vermont
#oregon
#introduction