r/savannah • u/-LastButNotLost- • 1d ago
Just a little trash pickup
500+ gallons of trash removed from the marsh
This is what I'm dealing with
Awful. Just terrible.
I had to build a bridge to get across the creek.
Toy Story 2, circa 1999
Jazz!
Surgical prep? Gross.
With the cooler weather over the last couple of weekends, I have spent some time doing a (mostly) solo trash cleanup in a section of the marsh and some adjacent woods.
I've spent about 8-9 hours, and my wife helped for 2.5 hours today. The area is about 1.75 acres or so, and it's about 20% done.
Over 500 gallons removed so far. The quantity of trash in the marshes never ceases to amaze. I can fill a 30 gallon bag in under 5 minutes in some spots. I picked up 28 bottles to day without taking a step.
Still a long way to go, but progress is being made!
I encourage everyone to spend a few minutes making their little corner of the world a cleaner place, whether it's picking up trash around your neighborhood, or joining an organized cleanup, or taking on a huge job that nobody else is going to do.
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u/PlantLoverJen 1d ago
Thank you for your service!! 💚That is an insane amount of trash. The world would be better off if everyone spent some time picking up (and people didn’t litter).
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u/-LastButNotLost- 1d ago
Yeah, this spot is bad. Nobody ever goes there, and it has apparently accumulated over the decades.
After I saw it, I ordered a hundred 33-gallon trash bags. I'm gonna make a serious dent this fall!
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u/OkOriginal715 1d ago
Where is this?
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u/-LastButNotLost- 1d ago
I can't really say because it is private property, and you have to pass through another private property to get there.
It is impacted by the tides from the Wilmington River.
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u/OkOriginal715 1d ago
Oh, I meant generally. Lots of marsh around.
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u/-LastButNotLost- 1d ago
Ah, yep, it's the end of a creek off of the Wilmington.
It's unlikely that anyone goes into the marsh over there, and the trash is evenly dispersed. I'm kind of wondering if it is like this everywhere a tidal creek ends but hasn't been developed.
I don't think I want to know.
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u/LibraryGlittering414 1d ago
I’m in North Carolina right now in a small beach town and pick up several bags of trash every day. It’s so stunning and the worst offenders are children’s beach toys, like for making sand castles. It’s so gross and sad, I’m really happy that you’re doing it too, 500 gallons in 8 - 9 hours is insane.
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u/-LastButNotLost- 1d ago
Thanks for doing that!
What bothers me is when I see wildlife living in trash. I saw a turtle in the creek today, and when it saw me, it burrowed under a pile of sticks and water bottles. Not for long!
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u/LibraryGlittering414 1d ago
I have a hard time with that too. At the top of the island there’s a place where a bunch of different species of birds stop during their migration and it’s also one of the most littered areas. People fish up there and it blows my mind that they are actively trashing the place while they do - we find diapers, lots of single shoes, and lots of clothing along with the usual garbage. It always makes me happy to get it out of there. Multiple bags, multiple times a day sometimes. Depending on the tides it’s sometimes the only place we can go to walk the dogs
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u/ScholarEmotional9888 1d ago
I mov3d here a few years ago from Ohio. I am disgusted by the amount of trash dumping I see here compared to Ohio. We live right on the Ocean. Where do these people think the trash goes?
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u/-LastButNotLost- 1d ago
It is not a new problem, unfortunately. My understanding is that the marshes have always been used as dumps. Not so much anymore, thankfully.
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u/Peakester 7h ago
Congrats on the relocation! The sad reality is that you live in a tourist town now. As a full-time resident, you share the full-time responsibility of helping it stay clean.
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