7/03/11, Shop Rite Parking Lot, #39

I know it's crazy, but we can't stay away.  We needed a fast dependable facelift, so we headed back to Shop Rite and were very pleasantly surprised by how oddly ... neat? ... the parking lot appeared.  Seriously, it seemed to be pretty much devoid of it's usual collection of plastic bags, store circulars, and general trash.  We were impressed by someone's efforts to tidy up.


However... there was still plenty for two experienced trash collectors to collect.  I focused on all of the disgusting debris that gets smushed against the turtarriers.  Isn't "turtarrier" a great word?  A turtarrier is the cement block used to mark the end of a parking space.





It was still really hot and humid, and to complicate that, Julie and I found it extremely difficult to get our plastic gloves onto our hands.  (Note to self, keep baby powder in car for those moments).  


It was a successful, but kind of gross, facelift.

7/02/11, Shop Rite Stormwater Basin, #37 & #38

After months of noticing debris in the stormwater basin on the left hand side of Shop Rite, Julie and I just had to clean it up.  I know, we are supposed to avoid Shop Rite.


It started out to be a gorgeous day, but it quickly got hot and humid.  Hot and humid weather make facelifts much less fun, just let me throw that out there.  


We decided to leave our garbage neatly bagged up next to the outdoor garbage cans instead of dealing with the dumpster scene.  We know how that can go...

June?

I am not quite sure where the month of June went.  It was obviously a very busy month.  Perhaps there was a lot of bad weather on weekends?  Was I overwhelmed by the end of the school year and the beginning of Art in the Park?  I do know we did travel one weekend.  Whatever my very good reasons were, the result was a month without a single facelift.  

5/29/11, PEAC Health Club, #36

I wanted to do a face lift in a place I visit frequently, PEAC Health & Fitness.  The landscapers there do a terrific job and it is clearly well maintained.  But, sigh, it is my cross to bear that my eyes are constantly drawn to those little bits and pieces of trash that are missed by most. 

It was an interesting face lift because the trash was so "healthy" compared to every other spot I have cleaned.  

A sampling of the most common items discarded in the parking lot:

those little plastic single use teeth flossers 

pieces of energy bar wrappers

chewed gum or gum wrappers

socks or footies (just one of each) 

Power-ade or water bottles

I was there super early in hopes of avoiding attention, and to my amazement a small group of obviously dedicated gym rats arrived about 5 minutes before PEAC opened to hang outside the door.  I received some good natured ribbing and invitations to clean cars and homes!   

5/22/11, Denow Road Shopping Center, #35

It was a day of little scraps, which I find can be more of an eyesore than larger pieces.  Although I worked steadily for 56 minutes, I only collected about half a bag of trash. I also only was able to clear about 3/4 of the parking lot.

As always, anthropologic musings kept me happily absorbed in my work.  A trail of "Thank you" mint wrappers flowed into the parking lot from the trattoria.  Could mints be made with wrappers made out of birdseed or something?  Since they are all ending up on the ground, that may be nicer for the birds and the environment.  Peculiarly, there were a lot of q-tips ... I am still perplexed about what they are being used for in the middle of a parking lot.  Cash register generated coupons were the winning  discard in front of Stop & Shop.  Isn't there a way to keep that information on-line instead of printing them all out?  Imagine all of the paper and ink that could be saved if coupon information could be electronically attached to a customer's store card account.
I am so full of great ideas!  Just call me an idea abyss.

5/07/11, Route 31 North, near Baseball Field, #34

Julie and I finished up the area along Route 31 N. that we started last week.  It was perilous going, not because of the traffic, which naturally is always a mild concern, but because of the scourges of Spring.  I am just crossing my fingers that neither of us will end up with a telltale rash of any type.  Despite the perils, our commitment to my pledge will continue!

Scourges of Spring

5/01/11, Route 31 North, near Baseball Field, #33

May Day was a very exciting pickup.  Dare I label it auspicious?  First of all, the location was scouted out and suggested by my friend Benji.  This stretch of road is one that she travels often, and it is always satisfying to improve the quality of a friend's life by making her world a cleaner place!  Anyhow, Benji was particularly annoyed by a piece of white styrofoam that had apparently been lodged into a bush on the side of the road for a long time.  

Good news, Benji - You will never be bothered
by this piece of white styrofoam again!

One very exciting thing that occurred was that Julie hit pay dirt!  Or at least she hit a dirty dollar!  We felt like she won the lottery.  Honestly, we don't do this for any sort of payment... but that made finding cash even more exciting!

Thanks again for the location tip, Benji!
It really paid off for us!

In addition to the cash, we received a loud "thank you!" from a passing car.  That made us smile!  We found a jackpot of exciting items to pick up that were a welcome change of pace from the usual haul.  We found several long pieces of old fire hose.  We found a tennis ball, and several softballs.  Well I can't remember anything else specific, but we didn't even finish this location - we only got through half of the strip before our bags were heavy and full to bursting.  Honestly, we were ready to leave, because we kept finding ticks on us and that was creepy.

Don't worry, Benji, Julie and I promise 

that we will be back to finish the job.