Documenting - American Wasteland - Roadside
As I have traveled around the country and explored the areas I have lived I have seen some beautiful things. Animals crossing the roadway, sometimes stopping to take a look at me, a bird sitting high watching me on my path, the patches of color along a landscape given off from blooming flowers. I hope to see many more beautiful sights during my journeys and be sure I will share them with you all. This post however is not about the beautiful things.
As I look around and enjoy the wonders of our world I notice more often things that we as humans just discard as we move about our day; from the cigarette butts tossed out the window of the car to large items dumped along the side of the road. Most of the things that end up discarded along our roads will stay there till they are removed, by wind, water, or humans taking action.
As you can see from the images shared here I have found items of all kinds. Cans from the turn of the century, bottle-tops from old soda bottles, masks, plastic, so much plastic, tires, TVs, microwaves thrown into canyons, toilets, beds, and boats. These things are discarded with no thought of how long they will remain, what damage they may cause as any chemicals break down, who is going to clean it up if it ever gets cleaned up. Maybe it will just get washed to the nearest waterway, maybe it will sit there forever, nature growing up around it, but never fully going away.
Earth Day this year a group from Happy Earth Market got together to clean some areas of the community, after 3 hours and multiple bags we did not even make a dent in the trash issue along Boulder Highway. It has truly become an issue we can’t turn our eyes to. Stop and look, driving down the highway, at the exit ramp, along the streets downtown, the country roads, at the park you walk around, it is such an issue. The whole thing got me thinking about taking walks with my kids when they were little, we would bring a bag and pick up trash we found along the way. Something so small, just a little bag, but it made a difference.
I invite you all to take a pledge with me. This summer during my travels I am bringing bags, gloves, and a gabby thing and cleaning up at the different stops I make along the way. I know I can’t do it all, but I can spend some time on each stop to get some up off the ground. So this summer, all the time really, take a bag with, a Walmart bag is fine, and pick some stuff up. If we all take the time to pick a few things up and think about how we dispose of our old stuff, maybe we can start to see a change. I will share images of what I get, not for the praise but to show what can be done. “Be the change you wish to see” is truly a statement I work to live my life by.
