Yesterday I participated in roadside clean-up. We all see the Adopt-a-Highway signs with a sponsoring group. The Rotary in Grimsby sponsor the clean-up of the east and west ends of Main Street - where they are in the country. If you think about the side of the road in the city or a town, the property owner has a stake in maintaining cleanliness. In the country, the property owner doesn't see the garbage or doesn't live at the site, or doesn't experience a need to clean up the garbage, so there it is.
There re so many stories roadside: The soggy plastic-bagged newspapers in deep ditches that failed to make the driveway and really weighed down the garbage bag. Then there are the Tim Horton's and McDonalds cups that supposedly are recyclables but look like they could last for 10 years on the roadside. The number of cigarette butts is astonishing. As they don't break down, we see years of accumulation and I left them there. Sometimes there was a little gathering of garbage: did the car pull over and they ate snacks, drank beer, threw out the empties, and then left?
The highlight find were the accident pieces on both sides of the road. On the other side was glass, and on my side were pieces of a front grill.
There are rules in garbage pick-up: don't touch anything you can't identify, don't touch air brakes. don't go onto private property to pick up garbage, don't go out alone, take a cell phone, and so on.
Today's images are roadside signs that have decayed over the years. This was at the Mexican Pub and Grill that once was the White Eagle on Highway 8 near Beamsville.
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