share.triangle.com - Do you hate litter? - Comments

Tubing is optional

edgars — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:39:51 -0400

See instructions above posted 3-17-08

In making this bag holder, you can skip the tubing as I have found it adds cushioning only.

I have been testing one made without the tubing and have seen no difference in the strength nor the comfort in handling this device. Leaving off the tubing makes this bag holder very simple to construct and decreases the weight to about 4 ½ ounces.

Although, it’s not been tested for 5 years like the one I've been using that is in the tubing, I do feel it will hold up just as well.

So, all you need to make this bag holder is the aluminum rod, 4 clamps and a vise for bending or a friend that has a vise and can bend it for you. Put a little tape around the ends of the rod to cushion the tips.

Before bending, mark the middle of the rod, 4 inches from the middle and 7 inches from each tip. Using a vise, bend the rod together in the middle. Put 4 inches of the fold into the vise and bend to right and left. Then bend 7 inches from the tips. In just a few moments, you have a bag holder.

You can make it for your own use or make it to sell. To sell, you will need to demonstrate it as folks will not know what in the world it is.

This photo shows that the bag holder is very strong. This is my collection of aluminum cans, a full bag ready to be tied up. It weighs more than 10 pounds, more weight than I want to carry while picking up litter.

This Photo was taken on a windy day. Having the bag on a holder is like having 5 hands to hold the bag open. This empty bag is ready for the litter to be pitched into it. Notice the plastic grocery bag hanging on the back. I use this for keeping the recyclables separated.

PUT A HANDLE ON THAT BAG with a 36" X 1/4" aluminum rod and 4 mini size heavy-duty metal spring clamps. Cover tip ends with a little tape.

Leading by example

edgars — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:36:04 -0400

Citizens Against Litter in Pittsburgh, Pa. had over 12,000 volunteers picking up litter for their spring cleanup in the city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny and Beaver counties, collecting approximately 100 tons of litter and recyclables.

This is an increase of 6,000 volunteers over last October's cleanup which got the attention of people across the world. Hearing how successful the fall cleanup was, Kosovo wanted to know how it’s done so they sent a news crew over to get the scoop.

Citizens Against Litter is not going to take a break. They have already set the date for the fall cleanup which will be in October. Will the total of volunteers double again?

Boris Weinstein, the 76 year old retired market/advertising founder of Citizens Against Litter has a passion for picking up litter. He had rather pick up a whole lot of litter than make a hole in one playing golf. Leading by example is his tactic for getting folks motivated to volunteer their time to keeping the city clean.

Read all about in their May Newslitter: http://www.citizensagainstlitter.org/

Another inspiration web site that I have found interesting is: http://www.litterheroes.co.uk/

INSTRUCTIONS for making a BAG HOLDER for picking up litter

edgars — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:57:42 -0400

This heavy duty bag holder, which is simple to make, will hold the trash bag open for you. It makes putting litter into a trash bag much easier and faster especially on a breezy day.

The bag holder is strong and durable and works great for Adopt-A-Highway volunteers and anyone that picks up litter. It makes putting litter into the trash bag as easy as putting it into a bucket. There’s no fumbling with the bag opening. The difference is: A bucket weighs about 3 pounds. The bag holder weighs only 6 ounces. You can put much more litter into a bag than you can a bucket.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

36” X 1/4” aluminum rod

37” X 1/4” vinyl tubing

4 Mini Size Heavy-Duty Metal Spring Clamps

Cost of materials approximately $5.00 per holder. (Home Depot stocks all these items)

TOOLS NEEDED: Compressor, Vise and a strong arm for bending.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Remove tag from rod and clean the rod with WD-4. Press the end of rod into the tubing. With tip of Compressor Nozzle snug in other end of tubing, blow air into tubing while someone else pushes the rod up into the tubing. The pressure of the air expands the tubing making it easy to slide the rod into the tubing. With head of nail mounted on wall, press rod up into the tubing so the tubing will overlap the sharp ends of the aluminum rod.

Use a VISE to hold the rod for bending.

Shape the rod as shown in the above picture. The measurements do not have to be exact. Bend it in the middle first then do the sides. The handle is necessary for controlling of the opening and closing of the bag.

DIRECTIONS FOR USE: Fold several inches of the bag opening over the rod. Use the full opening of the bag or make the opening smaller by gathering the bag at the handle on the rod as shown in the picture. Wrap the excess around handle. Clamp into place. Holding the holder like a bucket handle, you have control of the opening and closing of the bag with your thumb and twist of your wrist.

Peer empowerment needed

breakPRranks — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:33:54 -0500

I'm moving in the direction that citizen enforcement is the key to altering public behavior on this one. Naturally, it would take hard research data to verify it, but I surmise that conventional education campaigns -- especially ones targeting the offending demographic -- will be largely ineffectual.

Could leveraged peer pressure and fear of indictment be the answer?

There may also be advantages to reframing the litter issue outside the transportation arena. After all, it is analogous to vandalism, which respects no boundaries or right-of-way. And according to an N&O report from November, the state does carry some categories of felonious littering on its books. Perhaps severing the linkage with DOT/DMV might broaden the reach of statutory and enforcement options at our disposal, so to speak.

Personally speaking, I think convicted offenders ought to be sentenced to mandatory community service, picking up their fellow litterbugs’ droppings with their teeth.

Did you get his plate number?

breakPRranks — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 13:03:51 -0500

We have hotline reporting options available now.

Litter Photos

edgars — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:53:46 -0500

How about some before and after litter photos and photos of people picking up litter. Send in a picture of your Adopt-A-Highway group and how pretty your area looks after it has been cleaned up.

Successful Litter program in Texas

Visitor — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:54:43 -0500

As I have said before Texas has a great successful Anti-litter program
Here is their web site
http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org/home.php

Send this one to all our elected officials and maybe they might get the idea that with a little more effort and funds put into a program we could get on the right track.

I still have not seen any DOT people cleaning the roads and after all these months it will take a year just to clean the roads up.

Maybe all the caring NC citizens should have a gathering in front of the Legislative Building and Governor's mansion.

How to post litter photos

mwilliam — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 01:06:01 -0500

There is always a link on share.triangle.com that will send you to the litter photo posting page. It is located in the box on that page that says, "As mentioned in the N&O" like the box below.

Posting litter photos

edgars — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 22:15:50 -0500

If you need some assistance in posting litter photos, see my comment "Litter Photos" posted on February 7. It give directions on one of the ways to get to the URL for posting the photos and some steps to take in posting the photos. Hope this helps.

No butts about it

edgars — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:06:53 -0500

We were waiting in traffic at the Crabtree intersection. In the vehicle beside us sat a man that was smoking. Appearing to be unaware of what he was doing, he stuck his cigarette butt out the side of the window and flipped the ashes, then took another draw and dropped the butt out the window like the world is his ashtray.

The recent fires we had on 2-10-08 reminded me of the fires in California. With the wind so strong and the fire just west of us, it was pretty scary. March is coming and it will be windy and it will probably still be dry. One cigarette butt can set a forest on fire.

Now would be a good time for smokers to kick the habit of dropping their cigarette butts. March is right around the corner.

Waste out of place

edgars — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 07:45:28 -0500

Waste out of place....

"People who care about clean neighborhoods must pick up for people who litter and don’t care. Picking up litter must be done regularly. Once or twice a year doesn’t cut it."

Litter and government and DOT

Visitor — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 08:25:57 -0500

Now that we know that DOT has wasted millions of our taxpayers dollars on faulty roads and unnecessary projects I can see why they keep claiming they do not have money for Anti-Litter campaigns or sub contracting companies for litter pick up.

The man in charge of the DOT program just keeps making excuses and sends out the same old computer generative answers full of facts and excuses.
It is obvious that many citizens of North Carolina/Wake County are upset about the litter/trash problem.

We need to write our upcoming candidates for governor.

Signage against litter

Visitor — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 19:06:08 -0500

With all of the complaints regarding litter in NC, where are the "Keep North Carolina Clean and Green" signs or the signs stating what the fine is for littering??

If you drive some of the most offensive roads (Route 1, 540, 440 and 40 to name a few), I challenge you to find a handful of these signs. I don't know if they would help the problem, but they can't hurt and they would at least show that the state is committed to the cause.

Litter on the rise

Visitor — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:50:37 -0500

More litter and fewer people to clean it up since prisoners are no longer allowed to clean it up. I admire all who report littering, but all they do is write a letter, and anyone who is disgusting enough to litter is certainly not going to care about a letter. They probably wind up on the road somewhere!
The state of North Cartolina has a namby-pamby guy in charge of the program who thinks "education" is the answer, like people don't already know it's wrong! He sent me a report that shows that less than half the people who are ticketed for littering ever show up in court and none are pursued if they don't. Of the people who do show up in court, only a small percentage are actually fined. Most cases are dismissed.
Unless the government takes a hard line, we are going to be looking at nasty trash and having our safety and health put at risk by it. PLEASE write, email and call your county and city council representatives, legislators, and anyone else you can think of to have them start actually enforcing the laws we already have and to increase fines. Also, small trucks are not required by law to secure their loads. Almost all construction traffic now is small trucks. Look at the trash on the roads and you will see that most of it is paint cans, pieces of carpet and padding, etc, from the small contractors that work on houses.

Litter Photos

edgars — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:16:53 -0500

Anyone interested in posting litter photos or viewing photos of litter that have been posted can click on the URL at the top of this forum that reads-----Click here to post your litter photos!

To post a photo:

Click on Upload your litter photos.
Name it in the Litter Photo block.
Click on Browse and go to your picture and then double click on the photo you want to post. (Don’t click Upload just yet).
Fill in the description section.
Go down and fill in Photographer’s name, address and e-mail (this will not be made public).
Scroll back up and click on upload. After your picture loads, you will received a message at the top of the page.
Scroll down to bottom of page and submit.

Do you hate litter?

edgars — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 08:34:06 -0400

Are you bothered by litter on the roadsides, on the streets, in vacant lots, in parking lots, around businesses? It's everywhere. You can do something about it. To get some ideas of what you can do, go to this web site: http://www.citizensagainstlitter.org/

Click here to post your litter photos!

Are you bothered by litter on the roadsides, on the streets, in vacant lots, in parking lots, around businesses? It's everywhere. You…