12/04/10, I-95 Ramp to Route 31, #21

I only got halfway down one side of the exit ramp heading towards Pennington before I had to turn back because my bag was stuffed full.  If my car had been parked closer, I almost would've gone back to fill another bag.  Almost.  It was quite cold.  Plus, my iPod wasn't working.  Sadly, I know there is still litter there, even where I cleaned up, hidden under the leaves.  It all looks tidier in the fall until the wind blows the leaves away.

11/14/10, E. Delaware Avenue - #20

I went out early in the morning to clean up along the sides of E. Delaware Avenue heading out of the boro, with the hope of avoiding a stream of traffic.  The trade off was wet feet from the leaves covering the sides of the road.  It was a nice way to wake up, with the sun streaming down and plenty of litter to pick up.  Did I just say that like it is a good thing?  This time of year it is a bit like a scavenger hunt, with squished plastic bottles and mangled cardboard drink cups laying in wait amongst the colorful leaves.

11/13/10, Shop Rite - #19

This was without question the biggest haul of litter ever collected by two people in one hour.  Sympathetic to my solo status what with Julie off in Africa, Ted came out to support me, and what a contribution. He cleared out a cache of waterlogged cartons piled in the fringe of weeds next to the parking lot, right near the entrance of the store. There was a styrofoam cooler, foil catering pans, and several toxic looking containers.  We had to drag everything the long way around the front of the store to get to the dumpster.  I followed behind Ted with a full grocery cart piled precariously with rotting boxes that kept tipping over and dropping debris that I had to pick up again.  Apparently the guy at the liquor store spotted Ted carrying his armload of trash around the back of the store in broad daylight.  I know this guy, he is the manager of the liquor store, and we have arranged for bartenders through him several times.  He always seemed nice enough.  But instead of questioning Ted directly, he called the manager of the store, who met us in the back and angrily accused us of bringing our own trash to their dumpster.  It felt surreal, and made me question my intentions.  Am I wrong to go around cleaning up litter?  The manager clearly was not at all happy about the unsolicited help.  He indignantly challenged my observation that there seems to be an enormous amount of litter around his store that never stops appearing.  I know that he sends his cart guys out to clean up, but the mess is bigger than that.  This was my SIXTH clean-up around Shop Rite, and, sadly, it will have to be my last.  I don't want or need thanks or appreciation... but I don't want to be arrested either!        

10/24/10, I-95 Ramp off Route 31 - #18

This facelift was another site identified by Julie on her way to work.  We went over on a Sunday morning, so the traffic was pretty light.  However, when cars did zip by, they went very fast.  Both sides of the road were thick with litter.  Unfortunately, much of it was shredded by a recent mow, which made it more difficult to collect.  There was also a fair amount of glass, and much of it was broken as well.  Hence, my first on-the-facelift cut.  We came away with a flattened traffic cone and two large bags filled to capacity.  We only really completed half of 1 of the 4 entryways onto 95.  That means it will take 8 pickups to adequately clean up this area, which is daunting.  What about our other high-litter locations that need constant attention?  And the worst news is that Julie leaves for Africa on October 31st for 6 weeks.  That leaves me ... alone!  

10/17/10, Mystic, Connecticut - #17

This weekend, Ted, Julie and I had a super time visiting Audrey for our first Parents Weekend at Connecticut College.  It was great to see our Dreezy happy and totally immersed in the college scene.  

Besides seeing Audrey, a real highlight of the weekend was doing a facelift with Sally.  She is such a great friend.  She picked me up at the Mystic Marriott on Sunday morning at 7:20 a.m.  for an hour long facelift.  We drove about 1 mile down Route 113 towards Groton Long Point, parked, and immediately started picking and gabbing.  We cleared both sides of a pretty long stretch of road.  Luckily we had an extra-heavy-duty and very large bag, because there was a lot to pick up.  I left Sally with a promise to return for another facelift, next time on the beach. 

10/10/10, Rt. 31 - First Assembly Church, #16

This morning, Jules and I decided to continue cleaning up Rt. 31 South from where we left off yesterday.  Once again, the area along the guard rail was heavily littered with packaging material from fast food restaurants and empty beverage containers.  I wish we could've reached further under and behind the guard rail but the prickers were more of an obstacle than we were prepared to confront.  

10/09/10, Rt. 31 - Motion Gymnastics, #15

A rare photo of Julie mid-facelift.

Julie identified this facelift site while traveling home from work.  The side of the road held a deceptively large amount of litter, mostly fast food wrappers and beverage containers.  There was also a shredded truck tire, which was very satisfying to remove.  Julie chastised me later in the day for obsessively noticing litter while we were walking in front of stores at the Wegman's shopping center.  It was an inner struggle to not just bend over and begin picking it up.  Perhaps in the future when I am older and can chalk it up to eccentricity I will just walk around with a hefty bag tied permanently to my belt so that I am always prepared to tidy up.    

10/03/10, Rt. 31 - Happy School, #14

Julie and I shared such a satisfying experience this morning picking up trash along Route 31, on either side of the Happy School.  Julie put it into words... "It just makes me want to go back out and do another facelift right now!".  What was so great?  We split up on either side of the Happy School, and both returned within 20  minutes with bags full to bursting, heavy enough that it was challenging to pick them up.  When we had scoped for a potential facelift site, we noticed some trash, but had no idea we would find so much.  Now, when we drive down Route 31 South, we can look at the trash free (for the moment) landscape and feel a twinge of pride.   What a gratifying way that was to start the day!

10/02/10, Shop Rite, #13

Jules and I headed to Shop Rite to check in, and sure enough, were able to gather 2 full bags in less than 60 minutes.  The recent deluge actually facilitated our clean-up, as it secured the trash  and made things easy to grab.  Met some interesting people, including a botanist who helpfully pointed out a massive rope of leafy poison ivy that looked like beautiful fall leaves, and a World War 2 veteran who is a Shop Rite employee at 84 years old!    

9/18/10, Pennington Boro center, #12

When I went to Vito's yesterday for lunch, I noticed litter on the streets of our little boro.  Julie and I went over and cleaned it up this morning.  I found several wads of chewed gum, which is something I haven't found in the past.  Gross, people.  Throw it away properly!

9/09/10, Stop & Shop, #11

Jules and I finished cleaning out all of the divider islands in the parking lot of the Stop & Shop shopping center.  I never realized how much debris gets blown into those bushes and just sits there.  Now we have completed the entire area once.


     

9/06/10 - Shop Rite, #10

Thank you, Tracey!

On Labor Day, Tracey joined me for a very productive facelift along the parking lot at Shop Rite.  It is amazing to me how fast litter builds up there.  Although I appreciate having a dependable spot to find litter, it is a bit depressing to see it return so fast after I pick it up.


We worked in the afternoon and the store was busy.  This was good for two reasons.  First of all, we ran into a friend so we were able to get a picture of us together.  Secondly, we definitely attracted attention, and one woman in particular was very interested in what we were doing.  Tracey pointed out that it is important to be visible, because my little crusade just might inspire someone else to either help me:) or start their own personal challenge.  After all, I owe the idea for facelifts to the man I ran into at the Pennington Market who is doing 50 good deeds for his 50th birthday... So it was a good afternoon of companionship and PR!


    

9/05/10, Rt. 31 - Shop RIte, #9

I found a lot more trash than I had anticipated on this morning's facelift.  Before I'd even left the front of Shop Rite's parking lot, I had to dump part of a load because it was getting too heavy. 























I continued along Route 31, and quickly filled a bag to capacity.






I'm embarrassed to admit that I left a great deal of trash under a huge bush that fronts Shop Rite.  It kind of grossed me out, and I need a rake to drag it out from under the branches.  There are piles of bottles and discarded whipped cream canisters.  Another time...   

9/01/10, Starbucks #8

The signs were all advertising events that have already
occurred... I left up any that contained current info:)

Julie and I figured we might as well continue a sure thing, so we headed back to the Starbucks shopping center.  I focused on finishing the area along Route 31 and ended up with a very heavy and full bag.  Julie concentrated on the islands between the parking areas, which are trash magnets.  After we had finished, we agreed there was still more to do...

8/31/10, Starbucks, #7

Julie is my hero.  She has been so supportive of my facelift project.  She volunteered AGAIN this morning to help even though it meant getting up at 6:00 a.m.  We picked up trash around Starbucks.  I did the field along Route 31, and Julie did all of the islands in the parking lot.  We still have a lot of ground to cover, and have decided to return later this week.  I love you, Julie!

8/30/10, Shop Rite, #6

This morning I headed back to Shop Rite with Julie.  Although it is my second facelift there, we still gathered two full bags of trash.

8/24/10, Pennington Pizza, #5

The morning before we left for our family vacation to Skytop, Ted and I did a facelift behind and around Pennington Pizza.  There was enough trash to keep us engaged, but it wasn't too bad!  I really appreciateTed joining me on my crazy little crusade!

8/16/10, Hyannisport, Massachusetts, #4

Ted and I spent a few days in Hyannisport with our friends Susie and Craig.  I crept out of the house early one morning to do a facelift.  It's always interesting to see what kind of trash is lying around.  The majority of the trash around Hyannisport was fast food containers and candy wrappers.  There was the mangled remains of a headlight, left under a tree.  There were several of those little plastic sticks and signs left by lawn service companies.  I must say, it was a beautiful setting for a facelift!

8/12/10, Pennington Market, #3

Today I cleaned up the Pennington Market parking lot.  It was my first "solo" facelift, and I tuned into my iPod and began collecting litter.  In general, the parking lot was amazingly clean, especially when compared to Shop Rite which is located right down Route 31.  In fact, there wasn't any "bulky" litter, instead it was a lot of little things.  The most common type of garbage in the Pennington Market parking lot was green twisty ties.  Do shoppers at the Pennington Market get so hungry while shopping that they rip open their plastic baggies of produce or bakery items the minute they reach their car and then drop the twisty ties on the parking lot?

8/04/10, Shop Rite, #2

At 6:00 a.m. my wonderful friend Sally and I got up and headed over to Shop Rite for the 2nd facelift.  Sally is visiting here from Connecticut, for her yearly stint as a guest artist at Art in the Park.  The strip of land next to the parking lot seems to be a consistent repository for a lot of trash, and Sally and I easily collected two full hefty bags.  It was a great way to start the day!

7/28/10 Kunkel Park, #1

On July 28, 2010, my 50th birthday, I completed my first "facelift" with the companionship of Julie. We picked up litter in Kunkel Park, Pennington Boro, for 50 minutes. Unfortunately as we left I noticed that there was still some debris along the edge of the parking lot, but I promise to gather that up at a later date. I am very appreciative of Julie's support, and I felt very excited about completing the first 1/50th of my pledge.

Raison d'etre

One day I happened upon a man standing outside of the Pennington Market, encouraging shoppers to contribute bags of groceries for a local organization.  He was so vibrant and obviously successful in his endeavor (he was surrounded by a LOT of full grocery bags) I was drawn to his cause. When I handed him a bag of groceries on my way out of the market, he told me that it was one of fifty "good deeds" he was completing in honor of turning 50 years old.  This idea of a personal vow of community service really appealed to me, and so I planned to commemorate my own 50th birthday by completing 50 trash pick-ups.  I like to tidy things up, so picking up trash is a natural pastime for me.  I'm still trying to think of the perfect motto, but in the meantime I'll go with... "It may not be my trash, but it is my earth... and I want to help keep it clean!"