First day of Trash Picking in the New Year

 I was back out picking up trash along the river yesterday.  First trash walk for 2018. Snow is melting.  Weather is approaching 50 degrees. Technically it's spring but that means nothing in Minnesota.  There will certainly be more snow.  Recently, my brother-in-law Bob showed me a Facebook article about folks in Sweden who jog and pick up trash.  They call it plogging.  https://mashable.com/2018/02/13/plogging-fitness-trend/#9YwcPXibUmqx  I'm only half Swedish and I don't jog. I really only meander and contemplate life while I pick up trash.   I still get all the benefits with walking, reaching, bending, and lifting.  I've got a few aches today.

I'm still working the area in between the Plymouth and Broadway bridges.  "The Stretch" is what I call it and why go anywhere else.  This may be the most neglected strip of park property in the Twin Cities.  There is no scheduled Park and Rec Earth Day cleanup here in April.  I don't think anybody has wanted to work this area.  But really with Pryes Brewery now located across the street on West River Road, it could be the perfect spot for a group to pick up trash and then meet for a beer.  I'll have the Dublin Dry Stout please.  https://www.pryesbrewing.com/

 

 In addition to the usual single serving chip bags, candy wrappers, cans and bottles, there was a ton of plastic sheeting material from pallets and large chunks of Styrofoam that blows in from all the industrial businesses that are located across the road.  It would be great if some of those employees had an opportunity to leave work a little early and stop by the park to clean up.

I came across two burn piles along the river.  That's not a campfire.  That's a spot where somebody is stripping copper for easy cash and sending pollutants into the river.  By the way, there is a pair of ducks that would like to start a family nearby.

Speaking of birds, I came across the remains of this large headless one.  Definitely 20 plus pounds. Is this a snow goose or maybe a swan? I wonder how many plastic bits were in its stomach.  As I was looking at these remains, I noticed a family further down the river throwing something in the water where I had just cleaned up. Up went a puff of something in the air.  As I was coming up off the river to the trash can, I saw them carrying an urn back to their car.  There goes Grandpa heading over the St. Anthony Falls to the hereafter.  For myself, I am starting to think that the mushroom suit might be a cool way to dispose of whatever is left of me. Do we have that option yet in Minnesota?  https://grist.org/living/mushroom-burial-suit-turns-dead-bodies-into-clean-compost/

There are always a few of these needles to be found.  Put them in a bottle and cap it off. Safety first.

Someone has been having fun under the Plymouth Bridge recently.  How warm does the air temperature have to be for the city to repaint this?

Final photo for the day before I head home. This decaying fish (an eagle's lunch?) along the shore reminded me of that big trash pool the size of Texas floating out in the Pacific and the problem it is causing for aquatic life.  https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/great-pacific-garbage-patch-full-ocean-plastic-keeps-growing-n859276    Personal responsibility and the work we do in our own communities is only a part of it.  So how are we going to solve that problem?  Will it eventually wash up on Venice Beach in California?