Posts: 1,351
Threads: 80
Joined: Jul 2008
Aloha all! I have been noticing more and more rubbish laying on the side of the roads, blowing in the wind and even whole bags of garbage!
On my drive from Hilo to Pahoa today, I was alarmed at the amount of garbage strewn everywhere on the sides of the highways. It was on the 11 as well as the 130.
Apparently, people feel comfortable enough to just toss their trash anywhere.[
] Very sad about this.
Carrie
http://www.sapphiresoap.etsy.com
"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future..." Galadriel LOTR
Carrie Rojo
"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future..." Galadriel LOTR
Posts: 5,052
Threads: 84
Joined: Feb 2009
It is most likely because of the change in wind direction.
That trash has been trapped there because of the trades and then the wind direction changes !!
I too am sad that people cannot understand that tossing their trash along the highway or anywhere other than a marked trash can is acceptable behavior !!
Posts: 6,214
Threads: 354
Joined: Feb 2006
There are a number of forces at work (aren't there always???), here are 3 that I can think of...
1. The recent mowing, along with lack of rain has caused some junk to be more noticeable
2. The county may have cut back or eliminated the little cart pickup (I haven't noticed it for months...but maybe it is me???)
3. And perhaps the biggest impact, we do not have the roadside cleanup crew from Kulani (or any of their island services... for me the most essential was their ecological exclusion fencing crew...but that may never bam taking away ae again...)
I have actually had people come up to me at some of the coastal cleanups & yell at me that I am taking away work for a county worker.... so some of it is just lack of knowledge as to the immediate results of littering & the fact that some people do not realize that their mother really isn't following them into the real world!
Posts: 2,490
Threads: 222
Joined: Dec 2005
Hmmmmmm, 4 years ago when I bought my second lot in Puna, I noticed a lot of cool little wooden signs a lot of them...
They seemed like they were hand painted with quotes "No litter" or No Trash with shaka's or flowers painted on them. They were just nailed to post or trees up high. I thought what a neat idea! Kinda a subliminal message. Tho, it seems like the signs are not replaced (getting old) and I'm seeing less of them. I really think they did a wonderful job.
I'd donate money to help out whoever thought of the idea and to make some more!
Posts: 5,640
Threads: 101
Joined: Dec 2008
I think another factor is that whoever goes around collecting trash bags from houses in HPP (and possibly elsewhere) piles their (uncovered) truck up so high that it's almost unavoidable that some bags will drop off on the highway.
Posts: 1,595
Threads: 111
Joined: May 2007
Carey said: "I have actually had people come up to me at some of the coastal cleanups & yell at me that I am taking away work for a county worker."
I've had similar reactions while taking a nap in my truck! ha ha!
Posts: 1,455
Threads: 148
Joined: Mar 2010
As a newcomer to the Big Island I have a few comments. Considering that the rubbish dumps are 1. free, and 2. located at places that everyone will drive by often so that they can make a dump trip combined with another errand, and 3. Pahoa and now Keaau dumps are quite nice, I find it hard to believe someone would be so lazy and uncaring that they would throw their trash on the side of the road (or anywhere other than a dump) on this beautiful island. Where we came from they did a fine job of recycling but a dump trip in my Toyota Tacoma pickup was about $22.00 minimum each time.
Jon
Jon in Keaau/HPP
Jon in Keaau/HPP
Posts: 274
Threads: 16
Joined: Jun 2010
Birdmove-
I watched a lady (local) at the beach yesterday take all the water bottles in her car and toss them AT the trash can. She missed on all accounts and the proceeded to kick them closer to can. We're talking too lazy to go 4' and place them in the can. It's just plain lazy and expecting some .gov employee to come and pick up after them.
http://www.wedekingphotography.com
Posts: 1,139
Threads: 42
Joined: Feb 2008
A lot of people will leave recyclables AT the trash can not because they want, "some .gov employee to come and pick up after them", but because there are some pickers who collect them for redemption.
"a great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices."
w. james
"a great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices."
w. james
Posts: 6,214
Threads: 354
Joined: Feb 2006
Although it is true that there are pickers at SOME of the county parks, most every picker I have seen has grabbers & can access those valuable containers in the can. I would love to see more of the parks have recycling waste cans, BUT the problem with those is that some people decide to dump their waste into them (even the most fool-proof designs have been fouled by fools!)
If you do leave your used containers BY the can, please do make sure that someone does pick them up after you (still talking about having some one pick up after you!)....esp at our County Beach Parks. These parks can have rain events that come on quickly & wash those "well intentioned" containers into the ocean, which is not at all good for anyone! (have actually been in the water at 4-mile & seen a little "can slide" happen... filled up a dive bag....)
Oh, and leaving the recyclables by the can is still a finable littering offense (if it was enforced), but, based on the amount of litter I see, I do not believe that Hawaii County has ever fined anyone for general littering....I think that you would need to do something on the magnitude of dumping truckloads to get a littering fine!
