Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › Trash on Delridge
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October 1, 2008 at 3:56 am #588228
trensuelaMemberHello, there is a mountain growing on our block along Delridge of empty cans, bottles, and assorted other litter. It is really tiring as I know that there is a group that goes out every two weeks to pick it up…I plan on volunteering next time. Has anyone had any succes in deterring people from littering? It seems to me on some level that the people who are littering may get a kick out of people picking up after them.
October 1, 2008 at 6:18 am #641658
WSBKeymasterTrensuela, are you involved with the North Delridge Neighborhood Council (if you live anywhere from, say, the police precinct north)? It just so happens they meet tomorrow night. Would be a good opportunity to get involved and find out what they’ve done in the past and what they’re doing next. 6:30 pm, Delridge Library, Wednesday night (I happen to be adding the meeting to the events calendar now so have the facts at hand). If you’re closer to the south end of Delridge, the Community Safety Coalition meeting (fourth Thursday of each month) is probably a better place. Re: your main question – some of our walking routes here in southwest West Seattle (Fauntleroy/Gatewood) have a lot of littering and I don’t think the culprits are getting a kick out of it, I just think they’re lazy/mean/dumb … TR
October 1, 2008 at 8:16 am #641659
mellaw6565MemberTrensuela – why don’t you contact Sealth H.S. and see if one of the teachers or the school want to take it on as a service learning project? Many schools now require community service as part of their senior portfolios.
October 1, 2008 at 2:28 pm #641660
KenParticipantSadly the high school students are the most obvious here in my neighborhood. I have confronted a few and gotten a blank stare.
SHA pays landscapers to pick up the larger pieces after trash pickup day but only on the SHA property.
Those of us on the other side of the street, are gifted with every single snack wrapper, can, bottle and mcdonalds bag that gets emptied before the walkers get back to the SHA property. I have watched countless times, the same school aged students finish a bottle or unwrap a food item and just let go of it where ever they happen to be standing.
I fill a kitchen sized trash bag every two weeks just from the frontage of my lot and I know the corner resident next door gets twice that.
There are only two or three households out of 20 that are responsible for 90% of the trash. The other 10% seems to be random drivers who developed a habit in years past of dumping the contents of their car mid block where the SHA used to have a trash / free stuff pile before the redevelopment.
Elementary schools seem to try to instill some basic ecology knowledge but I suspect high schools are either not successful at whatever they are attempting to teach or the littering as well as the walking in the street instead of the sidewalk, are forms of rebellion against perceived powerlessness.
October 1, 2008 at 5:46 pm #641661
mellaw6565MemberKen – give kids a chance. They often take ownership of an idea/practice if given the opportunity and guided in that direction. Hence the term service “learning”.
October 1, 2008 at 5:52 pm #641662
AnonymousInactiveI’ve read Ken’s posts for a long time and have garnered he is one of the most involved and helpful persons to kids and others in the Highpoint community. He would be the last person I would assume as not giving them a chance.
October 1, 2008 at 5:56 pm #641663
mellaw6565MemberJT – I wasn’t attacking him personally, just responding to his post. Lighten up.
October 1, 2008 at 6:01 pm #641664
AnonymousInactivemellaw6565 – I wasn’t attacking you personally, just responding to your post. Lighten up.
“Ken – give kids a chance.”
October 1, 2008 at 6:04 pm #641665
mellaw6565MemberKen said “I suspect high schools are either not successful at whatever they are attempting to teach or the littering as well as the walking in the street instead of the sidewalk, are forms of rebellion against perceived powerlessness”
I stand by my statement – give kids the chance to learn and take ownership. As someone who has worked day in & day out with kids, JT, I think Ken’s statement doesn’t give them enough credit if they are given the opportunity to step up.
October 1, 2008 at 9:08 pm #641666
KenParticipantIs the problem reading comprehension or poor word choices?
On the chance that I was unclear, I am talking about approx 5 out of an entire busload of high school kids in the neighborhood. That was in the line in one of the later paragraphs
There are only two or three households out of 20 that are responsible for 90% of the trash.
As far as the “give kids a chance” part, note my second sentence in the original post.
I have talked to the serial litterers and no amount of patient explanation seems to get through. I have no idea whether they will change as they get older. Some probably won’t.
I don’t ever condemn people because they are young, but I don’t ignore willful ignorance either.
All of us are nearly exactly the same person we were at 20, trapped in these bodies that are decaying around us.
:)
October 1, 2008 at 10:51 pm #641667
vincentMemberSounds like you need to box up the trash and mail it to them. Try putting XBOX, or BLINGIN WhEeLZ on the side of the box.
its best they get used to disappointment now.
October 1, 2008 at 11:18 pm #641668
ZenguyParticipantVincent your evil…come sit next to me!
October 2, 2008 at 2:50 am #641669
trensuelaMembervincent, that is the best idea yet I have heard…I think I have a PS3 box around somewhere, perhaps I can add some dog poop to the box.
October 2, 2008 at 4:30 am #641670
mellaw6565MemberKen – if it is done as a service learning project, then the kids LEARN which leads to better permanent behaviors. These types of behaviors have to be reinforced so they stick.
October 2, 2008 at 3:02 pm #641671
CMPParticipantThat seems really pathetic to make kids pick up litter as a service learning project. Putting trash in a garbage can is pretty simple…if they can’t master that task then I worry what will happen to these kids when they’re not living with mom and dad anymore. Same goes for the disrespectufl adults that litter. I like Ken’s “willful ignornance” comment… it has to be frustrating to witness that attitude repeatedly. I second Vincent’s and Trensuela’s idea with the X-Box and dog poop!
October 2, 2008 at 3:52 pm #641672
miwsParticipant“…..I worry what will happen to these kids when they’re not living with mom and dad anymore.”
CMP,
They’ll “grow up” to be the ones that throw their litter, including lit cigarette butts, out the car window.
Mike
October 2, 2008 at 4:21 pm #641673
trensuelaMember“Putting trash in a garbage can is pretty simple”
One thing I noticed last night as I was walking my dog, there are very few trash cans along the street. At the bus stop in front of our place there is a tiny one that is usually overflowing. This was an early observation of mine when I first moved to Seattle from Chicago nine years ago, very few trash cans.
October 2, 2008 at 5:23 pm #641674
JimmyGMemberThe country is at Orange Alert level trensuela.
It’s a Homeland Security thing–big trash cans invite the terrorists to use them to hide their bombs in them.
October 2, 2008 at 5:36 pm #641675
trensuelaMemberJimmyG,
Totally forgot about that…besides that, trash cans infringe upon the rights of trash to be free.
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