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Well, the trash is really a problem for sure. I travel around the state quite a bit and it is hard to get away from it in some places. Mostly around the major roads though; I-40, 440, 85, 74, 95, etc. Hard to point fingers. New people, passers- by, old people (I mean residents; no offense to the senior population ) Roadside clean-ups are a good idea but with the amount of people traveling these roads, you'd be out there every two weeks. I don't know a permanent solution except better patrols with stiffer fines? Hey, the remainder of 540 can have a vacuum system installed on the sides! Of course I'll probably be dead when that gets done.
I live in an area of So Calif where there is not a huge roadside trash problem anymore. It was a problem until the 90's when the Adopt a Highway program began. In addition the state frequently supplies maintanence crews comprised of inmates and folks who have been ordered to perform community service. Kinda funny.. sometimes you see celebrities, who have been ordered to do community service, picking up trash on the freeways.
I live in an area of So Calif where there is not a huge roadside trash problem anymore. It was a problem until the 90's when the Adopt a Highway program began. In addition the state frequently supplies maintanence crews comprised of inmates and folks who have been ordered to perform community service. Kinda funny.. sometimes you see celebrities, who have been ordered to do community service, picking up trash on the freeways.
I don't see a problem in Oregon either. A bottle bill and covered garbage trucks would go a long way in NC. I think Tonya Harding had to pick up trash on the highway. LOL
There was a study done a little while back that identified young adult caucasian men as the worst littering offenders.
I'm not sure if the study was done solely on CA or if it encompassed other parts of the country. I do know that they were the demographic targetted in a recent anti-littering campaign in CA.
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north carolina never had a trash problem until we had a growth problem. The natives never have nor never will produce the trash. The facts are the facts.
I'm going to assume you are specifically speaking of the Triangle area, with the above statement. I grew up in Eastern NC and I can tell you in the 70s and 80s there were serious trash issues along the highways and more frequently traveled roads. Does anyone remember those commercials in the 70s of the Native American looking at the trash in the ditch and a tear running down his face? I think it was a national campaign. But it definately applied to where I grew up in NC.
BTW, Tigerlily is right on about that bottle bill. You link a nickel to "trash" and it's no longer shows up on the hwy.
...I really did like how there was no housing crowding around the lake as we saw in Charlotte,it was all protected there,or seemed to be...
Yes, not to bash Charlotte and its suburbs (ok maybe I am a little) but their lack of protection of their lakes and watersheds is just pathetic. This is something that Triangle-area residents can be quite proud of...we've done a decently good job (in comparison) of keeping development off of our major lakes.
And in some cases, rivers too...the folks in Durham & Orange Counties years ago were on the cutting edge of protecting the Eno River because they knew development would eventually get close to it.
There's still much work to do in regards to this, even here. But when you look down at the Charlotte and Lake Norman areas, we're definitely leaps & bounds ahead.
PDXmom you are exactly right. I don't know where RaleighRob has been living but littering has always been an issue around here. I remember as a kid folks would dump just about anything out of a vehicle. I remember those commercials too. They'd start out in the nice pictures of the mountains and streams and come back to Durham and Raleigh and show the sides of the roads. When I was a kid in 4H we used to clean a major road, 4 times a year. We would end the day with 30 bags of trash and we didn't cover lots of ground. So, the littering was already an issue before we started this explosive growth. Don't blame the transplants, the problems been here.
Dean
Quote:
Originally Posted by PDXmom
I'm going to assume you are specifically speaking of the Triangle area, with the above statement. I grew up in Eastern NC and I can tell you in the 70s and 80s there were serious trash issues along the highways and more frequently traveled roads. Does anyone remember those commercials in the 70s of the Native American looking at the trash in the ditch and a tear running down his face? I think it was a national campaign. But it definately applied to where I grew up in NC.
BTW, Tigerlily is right on about that bottle bill. You link a nickel to "trash" and it's no longer shows up on the hwy.
Thanks to those who are commenting. I have been getting more and more concerned about the trash problem. Yes, trashy people have always thrown trash, but now there are more of them. I have been calling DOT and the various cities frequently about this growing problem. It is a very low priority with them, unfortunately. PLEASE call your local and state officials and legislators. Let them know we have noticed and care. The state just hired a private firm to pick up some roadside trash, but it is a pitfully small contract. Prevention would be MUCH better. The current fine for littering state highways is $1000. 5000 tickets (not much considering the problem) were issued last year, but most not enforced. I work with volunteer pick up crews and we see that much of the trash is from fast food places. A lot of it lately in the Triangle has fallen or been dumped from small construction crew trucks. Large trucks are required to be covered, but small trucks are not. I would love to see offenders actually held responsible and 24 hours of roadside pick up added to the $1000 fine. A spot on the nightly news showing shots of the offenders picking up trash would let these idiots know they will be punished. Just "educating" these offenders will not work, They know they are doing wrong. You have to hit them where it hurts...pocketbook and ego. Then we can have the roads we had a few years ago, where the only items seen on the side of the road were all the beds of flowers we used to have.
PDXmom you are exactly right. I don't know where RaleighRob has been living but littering has always been an issue around here.
Dude...I was talking about development on lakes....I didn't even mention whether littering was bad or not. (FYI: I totally agree littering around here is an issue.)
Oh wait...I think you meant raleighboy, right?
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) Roadside clean-ups are a good idea but with the amount of people traveling these roads, you'd be out there every two weeks. I don't know a permanent solution except better patrols with stiffer fines? Hey, the remainder of 540 can have a vacuum system installed on the sides!
Of course I'll probably be dead when that gets done.
correct
