This rather unassuming couple, who said their photo could be taken but would not provide their name, was spotted on Wednesday afternoon cleaning up what has become a popular dumping ground for people’s refuse.
Shay Road may be full of potholes but it’s popular among dog walkers, joggers and those looking for a pleasant stroll. The road is mostly undeveloped, a stream runs parallel to it, it’s surrounded by trees, and animals love it, too.
The problem is certain people. People who don’t think twice about throwing their trash along the side of the road when no one is looking. Those who see nothing wrong with dumping their old mattress (last year), furniture, and garbage where wildlife stops to drink.
“It’s disgusting,” said the man. He said he was born, raised and educated in Huntsville as he shook his head at the amount of garbage along the road, particularly in the stream that runs beside it. He said cleaning up the garbage is even harder on that side because it’s hard to get to it when it’s in the water.
“It looks messy. It’s a tragedy that people throw stuff in the watershed,” he said. “And the deer, they drink out of that water,” added his wife. She said last winter someone dumped a glass shelving unit along the side of the road, right in the wet area. “They filled it with glass,” she said. “Somebody came along and did pick that up, and thank heavens took the glass out.”
The man said they’ve told the Town about it as well. The couple spent at least an hour picking up other people’s garbage and chalked it up to being retired, and it being a nice day. They said they love walking along the road and try to clean up bit by bit every time they’re there.
Their message to those dumping their garbage where it doesn’t belong? “Just please don’t dump here, especially in the watershed. It’s a shame,” said the woman.
Our message to them? Thank you!
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We have a similar problem out our way along Ravenscliffe Road. We live about 20 minutes north of Huntsville and there are always lots of coffe cups, beer cans and many other, often food-related items tossed just anywhere alongside the road. Also, some people think the area for the community mailbox is a good place to dump their garbage including bags of used kitty litter, the litter from their McDonald’s lunch, empty liquor bottles, and even the “junk” mail they don’t want is often just tossed on the ground right beside the mail box. It would be wonderful if everyone could show respect to nature and their neighbours by disposing of their garbage responsibly!
Set up game camera’s to see who’s doing it
Many thanks to these very caring and thoughtful citizens of our community!
Bring the trash to Utterson and throw it out, wouldn’t even notice the difference here.