Litter Committee Minutes
March 3, 2003

Present: Sally Gagne, Anne Benenson, Liz Brady, Jane Curtin, Bill Erwin, Marty Ittner, Ed Murtagh, Lauren Page

The meeting was held to bring together FOSC members who have a special interest in litter reduction and removal, and to solicit ideas for achieving these goals.

DECISIONS

  1. A targeted cleanup will be held from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 5. Areas of greatest need seem to be south of New Hampshire Ave. and Long Branch. Sally will check with stream stewards for these areas and get their thoughts on where we should work on April 5. Ed Murtagh agreed to take the lead on this event, with Lauren Page assisting with the organizing. Bill Erwin will email a copy of the Sweep the Creek planning checklist to both Ed and Lauren for their use.
  2. Marty Ittner agreed to produce a flyer that could be distributed in apartments near the park. The general tone would be to welcome newcomers, encourage them to use the park, and urge them not to litter.
  3. Lauren agreed to coordinate the efforts of scout groups to help with cleanups.

DISCUSSION

Sally said that litter reduction is the key to success on this topic. She distributed a list of types of litter found in the creek and park:

  • Fast food trash thrown from cars
  • Candy wrappers thrown by bikers
  • Apartment trash thrown by people who may not know where to put it
  • Construction trash thrown by those evading a $40 or so charge for using the county dump
  • Stray trash such as plastic bags that get caught in shrubbery
  • Dog waste

Additions from the group included beer bottles from parties, car parts deposited by those working on cars near the park, plastic bottles that blow off recycling trucks or from recycling bins, and odd waste such as large pieces of styrofoam.

The group then discussed way to reduce litter and encourage citizen participation in its removal. Ideas included:

  • More plastic bag dispensers in the park for dog waste
  • Writing letters and phoning in complaints to the county about trash blowing off recycling trucks
  • Launching a public awareness campaign, including signs in the park, flyers distributed in apartments near the park, and T-shirts with the FOSC website featured on the back
  • Taking photos of particularly troublesome areas, such as sites where trash is dumped regularly, and circulate these to county officials
  • Starting an “adopt the path” effort emphasizing litter removal by individuals
  • Having fences placed around storm drains to catch trash before it enters the creek
  • Encouraging police to enforce existing no-litter laws and regulations
  • Get the county to re-install trash cans in parking lots in the park
  • Have receptacles in the park where people could leave unneeded plastic bags, such as Washington Post bags, for dog waste removal
  • Encouraging scout and school groups to join cleanups, or conduct cleanups of their own, as a way of getting community service credit
  • Draw attention to the litter survey map on the FOSC web site (www.fosc.org) (click on “About Sligo” and then “Maps)

Dog Waste

Group members said the dog waste problem has gotten worse since Park and Planning removed trash cans from the park. It was noted that dog owners are unlikely to walk very far carrying a bag of dog waste, even though a bag dispenser is nearby, if they have no convenient place to deposit it. Jane Curtin suggested that dog owners should carry extra plastic bags when walking dogs in the park. In case another dog owner seems disinclined to pick up after his or her pet, offer the person a bag, saying, “Did you forget yours?”

Apartments

The idea was raised that a flyer be distributed in apartments near the park, as described above. We would contact apartment managers, asking them to distribute the flyer or post near mailboxes. It was also suggested that we get anti-litter information included in newsletters that are already produced for apartment complexes.

Cleanups

Ed demonstrated his litter pickup poles, created from painting extension poles and paint rollers. He suggested that FOSC have available contractor bags for litter cleanups, which are much thicker than regular trash bags. The contractor bags, as well as the painting poles, are available at Home Depot. (The items are among tools listed on the FOSC web site under “Books and Tools” as available for free use.) Jane suggested that during FOSC cleanups, recyclable materials be bagged separately from other trash. Sally said that although FOSC gets cotton gloves from Park and Planning for cleanups, participants be encouraged to bring their own. Anne mentioned that a friend had organized a birthday party cleanup event in the park for one of her children.

Tours

Ed mentioned that guided tours of the Montgomery County recycling facility are available for groups of 10 or more. Individuals can drop by the facility during weekdays and watch the recycling work.

Notes from Bill Erwin