When I saw that trash in the ditch on Powers Avenue, I stopped and lay down the bike for a moment.
It’s been three years since Oregon lawmakers banned the use of free plastic shopping bags in order to reduce plastic pollution. Maybe they should have banned another kind of plastic instead.
That’s the thought that occurred to me Wednesday afternoon, if you can call it a thought. Here, you be the judge:
Normally I’m not a fan of banning anything. But those inserts of plastic foam that hold items secure in their cardboard boxes are an invention I wish we could do without.
The trouble, as I said, is in disposal. Recycling won’t accept them, and often they are too big for the trash can.
You can break them down, but that risks spreading around a shower of tiny fragments of plastic. The fragments often appear to be charged with static electricity, which makes them adhere to anything on which they land.
That chunk of trash in the ditch probably blew out of the bed of some pickup. I don’t want to think somebody intentionally tossed it out.
But then again, maybe they got so frustrated with the material that leaving it by the road was their last resort. (hh)
A closer look at this chunk of discarded packing material.
This type of packing material is both a blessing and a curse for sure. Our Albany St Vincent DePaul store accepts it for recycling. They accept one load per day. A load is what will fit into their grocery cart.
Thanks. Good to know.
If that styrofoam fits into a 33 gal. ‘plastic’ bag, I throw it in there, then break it down in the closed bag. Works for me to get it into the dumpster.
Let’s think about the probability it flew out of a Republic truck.
Not likely since Republic trucks didn’t run last week in this neighborhood, and aren’t scheduled again till Friday.