Invasive species: the litterbug
Despite the James River’s value, litter is an inescapable problem from shore to shore. The problem extends beyond the borders of Richmond’s parks, but progress starts on the river this weekend.
It’s a cloudy, but beautiful Wednesday afternoon on Belle isle and a few people are basking in the the partial sun–far fewer than on a Saturday (there’s less beer too). When the park’s nearly empty this secluded urban wilderness shines, but it’s impossible to avoid the constant reminders of the park’s most invasive species: the litterbug.
From Christopher Newport and his journey to Richmond in 1607 to modern river rats paddling kayaks, the James River has always been an important part of Richmond with enormous value and endless potential. It is the city’s greatest equalizer as people from all walks of life congregate in a unique wild oasis not found in many other urban environments (if any). Even just a few weeks ago, the river played host to the nation’s largest outdoor sports and music festival. Despite the river’s value, litter is an inescapable problem from shore to shore.
Litter finds its way into the river in two ways: 1) people drop it there 2) it gets carried there by runoff. Like a mountain stream to the ocean, trash has the incredible ability to find its way from the fringe of that Walmart parking lot in Buchanan, Virginia, to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch almost a world away. Over the course of a year, 6.4 billion tons of plastic end up in the ocean and there’s now six times more plastic than plankton in the fives seas. The problem extends beyond the borders of Richmond’s parks, but progress starts on the river this weekend.
This Saturday (June 9th), for the 13th year, the James River Advisory Council will put on the annual James River Cleanup. Volunteers at 13 sites from Lynchburg to Charles City County will scour the river and its tributaries in an attempt to offer park-goers and the river’s delicate ecosystem a brief respite from petroleum based products and cigarette butts.
Cleanups are important, but they only treat the symptoms of the larger problem. Kim Conley from JRAC is aware of this and further steps are being taken:
Education is a key part of what we do, and we work to educate all of our volunteers about how litter gets into the James River. Much of it is litter that has been left in parking lots and thrown out along roads. Rain runoff carries that litter along the ditches and through storm drains to tributary creeks or streams where it is then carried downstream to the James. The key to preventing it is understanding that litter inappropriately discarded miles from the James River can end up in the river over time.
Richmond already is a shining city upon a hill, JRAC is now leading the battle to maintain a pristine river below that city:
JRAC envisions a future of heightened awareness about the James River and its tributaries among people throughout the region. Ideally, we want to see a time come when there is no need to hold a large-scale river cleanup and a time when our river, streams and adjacent areas are completely healthy. JRAC’s slogan has been: “It’s your river. Enjoy it. Take care of it.”
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Aaron Williams
Aaron Williams loves music, basketball (follow @rvaramnews!), family, learning, and barbecue sauce.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
I recently went down to my favorite fishing spot and was welcomed by this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rewinditback/7190797122/in/photostream
I usually bring a garbage bag down with me and try to fill it on my way back home… but this was a new low. Why do people enjoy the river, and then trash it?
Gross. Seriously. I’m a new member of the James River Association. WE –PEOPLE–are doing the greatest harm to the River right now, not corporate or industrial runoff. Pick up after yourself AND your pets both in your yard and closer to the river. Most of us live on some part of the watershed. Let’s take some responsibility for our impact on the river.
Want to know about three big litter bugs?
1. Trash collectors
2. People that dump out their cars on the street or in parking lots
3. Recycling bins
Yes, the trash collectors leave a mess of litter behind. They are not careful at what they do and they dont bother picking up after themselves.
Car dumps? Go to the parking lot of Burlinton Coat factory as a sample. Go before they open in the morning….look at the parking lot, then look at the adjoining space for office max. The burlington lot looks like a rock concert was helf there with no trash cans. The office max lot looks normal. Why the difference? Dont know, but the clientele for Burlington are common car dumpers. They eat fast food and dump the trash outside the car wherever they are, for example.
Recycling bins….drive through the fan on recyling day…it only takes one medium breeze to launch cardboard, bottles, and other paper and plastic into the streets from overloaded recyling bins that have not lids.
People that litter in the river parks should be made to spend a day cleaning the river.
Mike,
That is a fantastic point about recycling bins. Maybe it’s time for me to get the 96 gallon bin with a lid. I wish the recycling company didn’t charge money for the large containers.
I think it’d be great for rvanews to do a new article about recycling- in the fan, I see bins full of pizza boxes (food contaminated and thus non-recylable) and plastic bags. I think people really don’t know what can be recycled or not and it’d be a valuable service to the community if you could educate them- I really liked the article you did a while back about the recycling center.
A couple of things-
Sierra Club Falls of the James Conservation Committee has a large recycling focus and is in the process of launching a contest for recycling projects. Please feel free to get involved-
http://virginia.sierraclub.org/foj/
The City now has a Sustainability Department and its starting to make a difference. The City’s recently purchased recycling bins have collected about 13,000 lbs. (6 tons!) of recyclable materials in just the few events they have been used at since March. Broad Apettit had a lot of success with them.
There are still glitches being worked out by the unofficial ‘Green Events Committee’ though and its also worth noting that recycling is still treated as volunteer activity for many City events- (we need a City code change!). Examples- During the RiverRock Festival the recycling bins were used mostly as trash bins due to confusion. A certain, recent West End food festival held at a church did not even have any recycling visible.
Also, one big question is whether new GRTC bus stop infrastructure will include recycling bins along with trash bins. It’s up to citizens to let the powers that be know how important it is to them.
Getting back to the river, I agree it is getting abused. The amount of trash I pick up in Belle Island and nearby park areas is horrendous. We need everyone’s help to get the word out that littering is not acceptable.
Be the change that you want to see. Join others who wish for the same. Be a James RiverRat. Register now: http://www.jamesriverassociation.org/get-involved/volunteer/riverrats
@anon, We actually did a piece on recycling a while back, check it out!
http://rvanews.com/news/debunking-great-myth-richmond-recycling/48913
In my opinion the best way to set up recycling bins at events is to pair them with trash cans at every location. Use different color or style bins, clearly marked.
At Riverrock I saw lots of recycling bins but had trouble finding a place to throw away the paper plate from my tacos. I carried it around till I found one, but others with the same problem probably chose the recycling bin (or worse, the ground). Floyd Fest has a great program with volunteers at every refuse station to advise people on what goes in recycling, compost, and trash. Whole Foods has unmanned stations with example objects displayed above each can.
Are festival beer cups recyclable? I think not if they’re polypropylene, but that plastic can become plastic benches. Would I be correct to pick the trash for those?
Compliance would be better if it were easier for non-eco-savvy attendees to make the right choice without much thought.
Melissa,
For festivals and such, they now have cups made from corn that can be composted.
from post above:
“Want to know about three big litter bugs?
1. Trash collectors
2. People that dump out their cars on the street or in parking lots
3. Recycling bins
Yes, the trash collectors leave a mess of litter behind. They are not careful at what they do and they dont bother picking up after themselves.
Car dumps? Go to the parking lot of Burlinton Coat factory as a sample. Go before they open in the morning….look at the parking lot, then look at the adjoining space for office max. The burlington lot looks like a rock concert was helf there with no trash cans. The office max lot looks normal. Why the difference? Dont know, but the clientele for Burlington are common car dumpers. They eat fast food and dump the trash outside the car wherever they are, for example.
Recycling bins….drive through the fan on recyling day…it only takes one medium breeze to launch cardboard, bottles, and other paper and plastic into the streets from overloaded recyling bins that have not lids.”
Just so happens I notice two McDonalds-dominated piles in the Belle Island tredegar lot this morning…who eats fast food in there car, then decides to open the door and drop the bags and trash on the ground, and drive off?