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#16
03-23-2009, 08:58 AM
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not offered as an excuse, but only as an explanation.....
our state dept. of transportation has been taking a beating (as many around the country) with the current budget woes. All state agencies have been searching for ways to pull stuff out of their budgets. This has impacted their use of funds for right of way maintenance, including litter pickup, mowing, etc. Locally, the maintenance folks have told us they have taken litter removal out of any contract maintenance they do and are also not doing any litter pickup themselves. I imagine that might change when mowing season starts since you can't mow over some of the stuff safely....but then again maybe they won't be mowing. In any regard the lack of funding for road maintenance has had a visible impact in regard to litter. 
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#17
03-23-2009, 09:01 AM
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When I was in middle Tennessee, on some roads I would routinely see gas tanks thrown by the roadside. Clusters of two or three in the ditch.
It always puzzled me until I found out what they really were. It turns out that gas tanks make good containers for making meth in.
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#18
03-23-2009, 09:02 AM
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I once went on a cycling date with a 20-something lawyer in San Francisco.
All was going well, she looked gooood in lycra. Then, while at a rest stop (this was NOT a competitive ride) she went to unwrap her bottled water, and just let the plastic wrapper fall from her hands onto the ground and blow away. Instant deal breaker. I remember watching it blow away and then looking up and seeing her read the disapproval on my face. She knew it was over. -s
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#19
03-23-2009, 09:07 AM
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Quote:
 Sorry but there is something really funny about this story....it's so tragic without being tragic at all.girlie
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#20
03-23-2009, 09:30 AM
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The thing that blows my mind is that we shouldn't even need clean-up crews. Why do some people think the world is their ashtray or garbage can?
Whenever I see someone flick their still-lit cig-butt out their car window I want to pick it up and flick it back in the car while stating, "You dropped this." I just don't get it. It's kind of like shopping carts (called buggies down here); return them to the store or an outside corral.
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#21
03-23-2009, 09:44 AM
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Skrawny
Quote:
 Sandy
__________________
Adopt a Pet. Treat animals with kindness, humans included.
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#22
03-23-2009, 09:48 AM
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I've seen some "riders" drop energy wrappers all over the road.
They do it in the TDF as evey little scarp is somebody's momento. But have some respect and take your trash. I've been known to drop a banana peel. Is that litter? Last edited by R2D2; 03-23-2009 at 09:51 AM.
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#23
03-23-2009, 09:54 AM
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Quote:
No, but you know what this guy is going to do with it don't you?!?!?   William
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#24
03-23-2009, 10:05 AM
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To the hardcore earth lovers, yes.
Quote:
I hardly follow that rule, but litter really frosts me. As long as the item has a speedy biodegradable nature to it, I'm fine with tossing apple cores and banana peels. Newspapers, cups and such...absolutely not. I was traveling in the car with a work colleague who upon finishing her morning coffee, rolled down her window, and tossed her spent cup. I lit into her in no uncertain terms that what she did was nothing short of disgusting and supremely lazy. Where is the pride in our countryside? Bad enough it's scarred by highways, but to add to the ugliness? Now see what you did? You got me all into a lather? Where do I discard that???
__________________
||,',',;','/,';', ,'',','' ||/,' ',;',',/',',' ||/'''';"";";,';',;,', ||O, || \_/\_ --"----------"'---''-----'---''-------'---
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#25
03-23-2009, 10:07 AM
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Quote:
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#26
03-23-2009, 10:44 AM
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Are we any better?
Interesting to see above mentioned tally of litter along the side of the road.
I must post the question though....are we cyclists any better than the other average litter tossers? Over the weekend I did the Great Western loop here in San Diego and made a similar game of counting the empty quick fill cartridges and blown tubes along the way. I quit counting after 20 cause it wasn't funny any more. And the ride was only 50 miles or so! When I spent a lot more time on a mountain bike the user group was very self conscious of such littering but some roadies don't seem to mind at all. I still spend a fair amount of time riding trails but don't see many tubes or other trash left by that user group. What's up with this? Why can't we all leave less trash on the side of the road?
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#27
03-23-2009, 10:51 AM
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Quote:
__________________
Slow, but working on it.
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#28
03-23-2009, 10:59 AM
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I saw a lot of bike-related crap on the side of the road during last year's ragbrai. I don't think you can point to any one demographic and say they do or they don't. I don't. if more were like me (and most of us on here I'd venture to guess) then it would not be as big a problem.
I remember reading though about some famous enviromentalist who regularly tossed cans aside. he said compared to the paved and unpaved roads crossing the country, at least the can would eventually decompose.
__________________
good times!
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#29
03-23-2009, 11:04 AM
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Tons of gel pack wrappers etc. on the Triple Bypass last year. You'd think those riders would appreciate living and riding in such such a beautiful place!
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#30
03-23-2009, 11:17 AM
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I rode in Las Vegas last week (Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire, and River Mountains Trail near Lake Mead). The amount of litter on the roadside was astounding. (I live in Chicago so I should be used to litter.) In researching the rides, the website for River Mountains Trail discussed problems with people who use the desert as their garbage dump. We saw lots of bags of garbage lying in the desert. As one person said, this illustrates the problem with the commons.
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