Cleaning in the Weeds

I've had a busy couple of days here walking from downtown Minneapolis to the Broadway Bridge and beyond.  I wanted to get out some of my aggression by picking up Styrofoam bits along the stretch after listening to Trump tell the world that the USA would be leaving the Paris Climate Agreement.

First I want to thank the City of Minneapolis and Park and Rec for their removal of this graffiti at First Bridge Park.  I used the online city graffiti complaint page to ask for this to be covered over because it is neither artistic nor interesting.  The online method is pretty painless.  Take a picture, give the location (street address or intersection) and wait a couple of weeks.  (I did pick up that trash there on the steps.) 

I made a little cardboard dust pan to sweep up this mess.  I left 3 pennies behind.

Goat's Beard are blooming along the walking path.

I found this stuff in the weeds near the ramp where the water skiers do their summer shows.  That can opener is an old model.  The engine additive has probably already caused some pollutants to get into the river.

Artifacts...we are just supposed to leave them alone.  I think it depends on what it is.

There is always so much Styrofoam along this section of the Mississippi River.  The small bits are such trouble to gather up.

Sometimes I find interesting stuff along the way.  That's a bag of weed just below the beer can.  About 2 cups worth.  What's the street value of that?  Since I was almost to the Park and Rec Office I walked it over there.  The Park and Rec Police office in that same building.  They were not that eager to have me turn it over to them.  They said I should have called 911.  Such a bother.  I should have just dumped it in the weeds and recycled the bag.  Anyway, if you are missing your pot, try the lost and found at Park and Rec.

Changing water levels on the Mississippi River

The falls on the north side of the Third Avene Bridge looked liked this on Monday, October 19th.  Pretty typical day.

A week later on the 26th it was like this.  No more water flowing over the concrete spillway.  That green slime looks nasty.  You can see the spikes poking out of the concrete on the left side that is preventing that giant tree from going over.  How many trees have to collect here before somebody moves those off?   That's not mother nature controlling the water flow.  What's going on upstream?  The Coon Rapids Dam is what's upstream.  The dam was just reopened in July of this year after two years of renovation.  The old rubber gates were replaced with steel gates.  It has been normal procedure to raise or lower the water levels of the pool above the dam each fall and spring so I can only assume that what I see here has something to do with that.  I should have gone out to look at my favorite trash picking spots to see what new stuff was exposed along the shore when the water was this low.

By the time I had the chance to do some trash picking the water levels had changed again. Yesterday I took a walk to survey my Mississippi Mile and see what's been going on.  Bassett Creek is now nice and full.

We are past the prime fall colors but I am still enjoying the leaves on the ground.  There were so many beer bottles and cans dumped just on the other side of this barrier and down the hill.  Oh, why do you people make it so difficult for me!  Ha, I got most of them anyways.

Some clean up at First Bridge Beach.  See that big chunk of stryofoam block.  I pick up a fair amount of marine styrofoam but this is the biggest piece I've found.  (Not good for birds and marine life)  One thing I noticed yesterday is that some of the trash cans along my mile are gone.  I get it.  Winter is coming and less park use.  It just makes it less convenient for me.  Water fountains are turned off and sealed up.

Time to head back home.

Skyway Walk

Xcel Energy Box on Hennepin Avenue

Yeah, it's been hot and muggy and we are all tired of it.  I think the end is near though.  Thunderstorms are approaching and that means cooler weather will follow.  When it's been too hot to walk outside I head indoors to the Skyway.  Supposedly there are about 8 miles of walking through connecting buildings in downtown Minneapolis.  If I want an hour long walk (3miles) I will usually do the outer loop or walk from the river to the convention center and back.  http://www.skywaymyway.com/

The Skyway connections are maintained by the various building owners and they are certainly not all the same.  One can be like a sauna and the next is wonderfully air conditioned.  Hours can vary slightly too between buildings.  Last Friday I was in the Skyway just before the crazy rush of downtown workers looking for a little lunch.  The Skyways are full of food choices for folks. Since Earth Day last April I have been witnessing the downtown transition from Styrofoam take out containers to compostible containers made out of more eco-friendly materials.  I haven't done a scientific survey of this change but I watch and I notice when one business has made a change and others have not.  Sometimes I will ask a manager or business owner what their experience has been.  Eco-friendly containers cost more and some businesses pass it on to the consumer and some are sucking it up and hoping the container prices will come down soon.  Dave from Dave's Downtown in the Oracle Building says he was on board before the Earth Day mandate and is happy to be a part of this important change.   A few (no names here) who have done nothing claim that they are still using old stock (which is allowed) but I find it hard to believe that after 4 months you would still have old stock to use up.  Will they be fined when they have their yearly health inspection?  I hope so.  I also spoke with Kate from Greenfield Natural Kitchen in the Canadian Pacific Building.  She has created a great visual display over their recycling bins so the customer is not confused about what goes where.  She also gave me a tutorial on PPL plastics (who knew that you could make takeout bowls out of corn and sugar).  By the way Greenfield is also composting stuff right in the basement of their building.

Have you noticed how some plastic bottles are getting really thin?

Really there is so much to learn about recycling.  Where does our trash in Minneapolis even end up?  Do we have landfills somewhere?  The website MPLS Green answered some of those questions for me and I recommend the short video on their website.  http://mplsgreen.com/where-does-garbage-go-in-minneapolis/#how-we-8220get-rid8221-of-garbage

Styrofoam bits on the beach

Concentrating on picking up small trash bits along the river a few days ago.  Most of this is Styrofoam of one type or another.  Styrofoam peanuts, broken up coolers, packing material, coffee cups, takeout trays, etc.  I see a lot of small bead like bits of Styrofoam along the beaches. They look like tiny white eggs. I don't know what products they were originally but those beads are everywhere.  They float and float and float and never go away.  I was out at the Mall of America yesterday and when I arrived I was starving so I bought some noodles from a fast food place.  I was half way done when I realized it was served in a Styrofoam container. Ahhhhhh.  I looked at the bottom just to make sure.  Yes, #6 EPS extruded polystyrene also known by the trade name Styrofoam.  Ahhhhh.  I had made myself a promise to ONLY patronize places that serve takeout in eco-friendly containers.  Mall of America is not Minneapolis so the new rules don't apply.  Mall of America is Bloomington.  I wonder if they are considering a ban on Styrofoam as Minneapolis (and now New York City) have done.  I wonder how many cities across the country are considering this.