. . . But not in my Backyard

Garbage, garbage everywhere and not a piece picked up

   Friday, 18 February 2005  It is a shame we live in a society today where you call for public assistance to draw attention to a continual garbage dumping problem of varying proportions and you receive only excuses as to why the litter is accumulating in your yards, trees, under your carport and skirting across your neighborhood streets during a windy day.

Good ole Styrofoam. There must have been plenty left over for all of us to share in. We certainly didn't have any choice in how much came our way one blustery day. This is what didn't cross over into the neighbor's yard from ours. We can almost tell you what is being added to the theater from day to day.

   It is one thing to find Wal-Mart bags throughout your trees but quite another to stumble across pieces of cut wood, nails, food wrappers of all kinds and huge sheets of Styrofoam in your own backyard.

   One of the newest problems looming upon our darkening horizon has been the recent deluge of sheets of Styrofoam. Note the pieces we found this past week in our backyard adjacent to the new theater where it came from. Even our neighbors down the road both ways had some in their respective yards. We consider this blatant littering and want it to discontinue immediately. If we still had our Laborador retriever she probably would have chewed up the majority of it ingesting some and spewing the rest in smaller pieces to scatter to the wind even further across the street. Styrofoam is not environmentally friendly, not accepted by our recycling friends nor our neighbors. It is certainly easy to see into our backyard from the theater from the new staircase running up to the side so why aren't they being the 'good neighbors' as Roy Drinkard has said they were going to be and make sure we don't have to pick up after them. I still pick up after my 4-year old but my other children know better than to leave their garbage out where it doesn't belong. Why should I expect less of our 'new neighbors' who are adults?

   We would love for people of the area to come into our neighborhood on both Dialsdale and Olive Streets and take a look at what we are having to deal with on a daily basis. There will be much more information to come as time allows.

   We didn't expect to see the following in the yard of our neighbor which has remained there since the initial construction of the wooden separating fence. Take a look at what was left over and has become an almost daily problem for some of us.

Wood pieces, plastic, metal nails and more left from the work done on the fence long ago.		From one end to the other are piles of wood, plastic, food wrappers and yellow caution tape.
Someone enjoyed a Hardee's burger recently and didn't have a garbage bag to place their leftovers in. Why should they worry, everyone else throws their garbage on the ground of a construction site, why shouldn't they?		Styrofoam sheets, general litter, and even a portable John to add the finishing touch to add insult to our downwind friends who have had to live next to the constant noise and falling metal equipment across their property.

   The general consensus of most construction sites I've been aquainted with is that you are allowed to throw all of the refuse and litter on the ground, and when the job is complete then we can clean it up all at one time or bury it a under a few inches of dirt. Isn't this kind of the mentality expressed by the pickup truck drivers who throw their Styrofoam cups in the back and they mysteriously disappear before they arrive home? Are you listening Jeff Foxworthy? Didn't you know, we want to Keep Cullman Special! Why are the rules different for construction sites than for individuals in this town? Why is it OK for a prominent businessman to build an unwanted eyesore immediately in your backyard, allow his garbage to scatter to the winds across our neighborhood and not be held responsible for any part of it?
 

Blue Bag Bushes    Now there is a new song title for Jeff Foxworthy. The white plastic eastern fence next to Wal-Mart has been taken down and a renewed collection of blue bags have found their way into our trees, bushes, under our carports, everywhere. Many times you can find several bags in a single tree. The bags show up but do not go away, are hard to reach and an eyesore for anyone coming up and down our street. "How could those people [on Dialsdale] allow this to happen to them," is what one lady told my wife not realizing she lives there. This is a real problem and one that Wal-Mart needs to address, quickly please.

This little holly bush was able to snatch this bag recently. Perhaps they should plant holly bushes on the other side of the fence to catch all others. Note the new staircase running up the side. Makes for a great view into our backyard and kitchen window as well.		Catching a bag in a bush is one thing but there have been some bags in these trees for months and they don't show any sign of coming down any time soon of course.

   It is easy thing to say you are going to be a good neighbor . . .

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   Further information will be made available on www.Cullman.org as it occurs.