[RP TownTalk] Street sweeping

Thu Sep 3 12:41:22 UTC 2009

Well said Bruce!  Why don't you submit this article to the Washington  
Post?  I think more people need to see it.  
Audrey

In a message dated 9/3/2009 8:35:45 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
bruce.wernek at mindspring.com writes:

When I was younger it was socially unacceptable to litter.  There were  "Do 
not Litter" signs/slogans on roads and in the parks, "Do Not Litter" ads  
on radio and TV.  In fact if you got caught littering on Rt 95 you could  be 
fined $1000.  There were numerous "Do Not Litter" signs  lining Rt 95, but 
they have long been removed.  We are in a new era in  our society where 
littering is socially acceptable just like pretty much  everything else.  Litter 
is ubiquitous, everywhere, ignored.  It's a  reflection on us and our apathy 
regarding the cleanliness of the very places  we live and work.  Our kids 
play in it, our pets chew on it, birds  make nests with it, wild animals eat 
it.  Who cares about how it affects  the enviroment and the other living 
things that share this planet with  us.  The street sweeper will pick it up. 
Will the street sweeper pickup the inconceivable volumes of trash that are  
being dumped overboard by every vessel on the high seas.  Will the street  
sweeper save the all of the animals that inadvertently consume our filth  
mistaking it for food?  Will the street sweeper clean up all of the trash  
washed into the rivers and creeks spreading our  poison over this Garden of 
Eden on which we tread?  Two hundred  miles straight up there is nothing but a 
hard vacuum and lifeless  empty planets for inconceivable distances.  This 
third stone from  the Sun is a cool oasis in an infinite desert yet we treat 
it like a dumping  ground for our refuse.  This behavior is unsustainable.  
There are  now around 6.8 billion people on the planet.  It's projected that 
there  will be around 9 billion by the year 2040.  Is the street sweeper 
going  to pick up all of their trash too? 
I hate to break the news to you, but the street sweeper can't solve this  
problem.  It's up to us to change our behavior and recognize that  throwing 
our trash all over the place is totally, utterly, unacceptable (I  can't 
believe I just said this.  I took it for granted that everyone felt  this way).  
Anyone who discards their trash as if the world's their trash  can should 
penalized civilly and socially.  It's up to us to  solve this problem.  We 
can start with our Town government enforcing  our ordinances, political 
correctness be damned. 
Bruce

-----Original  Message----- 
From: Andrew Waldron 
Sent: Sep  2, 2009 7:18 PM 
To: Cranky old Coot 
Cc:  towntalk at riverdale-park.org 
Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] Street sweeping  

All-  

I really fail to understand the point of this discussion. If  the town is 
purchasing the vacuum, it will sweep up the litter. Litter  is something that 
is in every society everyone. It would be impossible to  stop it. 
Therefore, instead of discussing ways to eliminate it (an  impossible task), let's 
pick up trash when we see it and leave the rest up  to the vacuum.

On Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 6:29 PM, Cranky old Coot <_lking at knob.com_ 
(mailto:lking at knob.com) > wrote:

Enlightenment, awareness,   behavior modification are good objectives.

But I hear leftest  jackboots coming down Riverdale Park's streets. How 
would we hold  McDonald's responsible for quarter third pounder  rappers in my 
yard? McDonald's is just as responsible for the health cost  of obesity as 
they are for litter, and no one has figured out how to stop  that atrocity. I 
would gladly pickup all their trash if they would stop  "aiding and 
abetting" the poor eating habits of my neighbors. But that  won't happen!

I would suggest a step back and an effort to stay at  least within sight of 
reality.  

Perhaps some suggested  changes to the Town Code would be in order. My 
reading of paragraphs 57-2  thru 57-4 and 57-6  of the Code don't seem to cover 
what is being  discussed here. Paragraph 36, about trash, also misses (IMHO).

On  the other hand paragraph 57-10(a) seems to me to identify who is  
responsible for the clean-up.

"It shall be the duty of every person  in charge or control of any building 
or parcel of
land located in the  town, fronting or abutting on a public sidewalk, 
whether as owner,  tenant,
occupant or otherwise, to cut and keep trim grass from the edge  of the 
property line to the paved
road, whether the land is public or  private, and not to allow any trash, 
waste material,  garbage,
offensive dirty material, weeds, briars, brush and  grass to grow more than 
ten (10) inches tall. It
shall be unlawful to  fail, neglect or refuse to comply with this section."

(the emphases  is mine).  I want to watch that trash "grow to more than ten 
10  inches tall."  :-)

COC
-- 

I'm the Cranky Old Coot's keeper, and I approve this message

Lou King

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