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This morning, there was a fresh blanket of snow in Minnesota. Even for someone who’s eager for spring thaw so I can get back on the water, it was a beautiful sight. The new flakes have a whitewashing effect… it leaves the place feeling clean, pure, serene.
But in many ways, this purity is only a cover-up. Within a couple of weeks, the snow will begin melting, and the drifts will begin to reveal all of the trash they’ve been hiding since last fall.
Often, we focus on the dumping of large, conspicuous debris, such as tires, appliances, car parts, etc. But some of the greatest harm done to our rivers comes from the trash which is (often unconsciously) allowed into the environment. Any one of these items or incidents might seem innocuous enough. Soda pop cans and water bottles, coffee cups and cigarette butts, plastic shopping bags and other assorted litter. Some of it is left in the shopping cart at a discount store parking lot, and some of it spills out of convenience store garbage can that has waited too long to be emptied.
But watersheds working the way they do, sooner or later, a great deal of this trash is being flushed into the river, even though the origin of the litter might be miles and miles away. The wind or rain carries it from the street or parking lot into a nearby storm sewer. (Or, some people actually toss trash into the grate of a street sewer, thinking it is some kind of a magical garbage disposal; “out of sight, out of mind” strikes again!) But the sewer system acts as a direct conduit… sending not just street water, but all that it carries, directly into the river.
Trash tossed into the street anywhere within the Mississippi River watershed is eventually headed to the Gulf of Mexico. West of the continental divide, it’s headed for the Pacific Ocean, and to the east, it’s floating into the Atlantic. Other destinations? Hudson’s Bay, the Great Lakes, or any of a million smaller lakes, ponds and shorelines where debris will be captured until it is either cleaned up, or decompose.
But that might take a while. According to American Rivers.org, your basic plastic bottle will take roughly 430 years to decompose completely. An aluminum can will take anywhere from 200 to 500 years to deteriorate. A disposable diaper, 550 years.
It has not taken very much survey work to understand the extent of the trash problem, flowing into our rivers. It is an issue that deserves greater thought and attention; something it will receive here at DisposeOfProperly.com, as well as our sister site, CleanUpTheRiver.com. If you have thoughts to share on the topic, drop me an email.
The fresh snow outside my window this morning looks wonderful. But as the parking lot snow piles and roadside drifts begin to melt away this spring, a lot of previously hidden trash will again be revealed. April showers will wash it all “out of sight,” but make no mistake: The trash does not disappear… it only finds somewhere else to go.
But in many ways, this purity is only a cover-up. Within a couple of weeks, the snow will begin melting, and the drifts will begin to reveal all of the trash they’ve been hiding since last fall.
Often, we focus on the dumping of large, conspicuous debris, such as tires, appliances, car parts, etc. But some of the greatest harm done to our rivers comes from the trash which is (often unconsciously) allowed into the environment. Any one of these items or incidents might seem innocuous enough. Soda pop cans and water bottles, coffee cups and cigarette butts, plastic shopping bags and other assorted litter. Some of it is left in the shopping cart at a discount store parking lot, and some of it spills out of convenience store garbage can that has waited too long to be emptied.
But watersheds working the way they do, sooner or later, a great deal of this trash is being flushed into the river, even though the origin of the litter might be miles and miles away. The wind or rain carries it from the street or parking lot into a nearby storm sewer. (Or, some people actually toss trash into the grate of a street sewer, thinking it is some kind of a magical garbage disposal; “out of sight, out of mind” strikes again!) But the sewer system acts as a direct conduit… sending not just street water, but all that it carries, directly into the river.
Trash tossed into the street anywhere within the Mississippi River watershed is eventually headed to the Gulf of Mexico. West of the continental divide, it’s headed for the Pacific Ocean, and to the east, it’s floating into the Atlantic. Other destinations? Hudson’s Bay, the Great Lakes, or any of a million smaller lakes, ponds and shorelines where debris will be captured until it is either cleaned up, or decompose.
But that might take a while. According to American Rivers.org, your basic plastic bottle will take roughly 430 years to decompose completely. An aluminum can will take anywhere from 200 to 500 years to deteriorate. A disposable diaper, 550 years.
It has not taken very much survey work to understand the extent of the trash problem, flowing into our rivers. It is an issue that deserves greater thought and attention; something it will receive here at DisposeOfProperly.com, as well as our sister site, CleanUpTheRiver.com. If you have thoughts to share on the topic, drop me an email.
The fresh snow outside my window this morning looks wonderful. But as the parking lot snow piles and roadside drifts begin to melt away this spring, a lot of previously hidden trash will again be revealed. April showers will wash it all “out of sight,” but make no mistake: The trash does not disappear… it only finds somewhere else to go.
© 2008, 2009, Mike D. Anderson, Crystal, MN.
[Originally posted 3/5/08.]
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