Friday, March 27, 2009

When It Rains, It Floats

From Downtown yesterday: Buffalo Bayou garbage flotilla!

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14 Comments

  1. 1
    From Bill Burge:

    Sorry to sound preachy, but this is why we need to teach kids that everything we throw into the storm drains goes straight to the bayou.

  2. 2
    From EMME:

    I was driving on GUlf Freeway the other day and the passenger door of the car next to me opened and they threw trash out. I was shocked. I gave them a really dirty look and I tried to get their license number to report them, but they stayed real far away from me.

  3. 3
    From kjb434:

    I noticed the same thing on White Oak Bayou at the North Loop. As I was stuck in traffic, I looked out from the bridge and could see the trash float down the bayou.

  4. 4
    From MikeRG:

    There was a tv in Braes near Main yesterday. Don’t think that was kids.

  5. 5
    From tcpIV:

    I grew up on a bayou here. Responding to Bill’s comment about teaching kids…it’s probably more adults throwing trash - like the two adults that dumped tires at the dead end street behind my house (in Montrose) - I gave chase, but no license plates…You’d be amazed what gets dumped in the bayous and lightly traveled streets.

  6. 6
    From Lauren:

    Yeah, Sims gets its fair share, too. This was a while back by the Goodyear Plant:

    http://www.arch-ive.org/stuff/sims002.JPG
    http://www.arch-ive.org/stuff/sims003.JPG

  7. 7
    From kjb434:

    It’s definitely not kids that are the problem.

    It’s adults who simply just don’t care. For god sakes, a cup can stay in your car until you get home and just throw it away.

    I have a friend that keeps a small trash back in the trunk of his car and usually throws it out weekly since he’s always on the road for work.

  8. 8
    From EMME:

    We need to ramp up the “Don’t Mess With Texas” campaign again. I think it made a difference. Made people think.

  9. 9
    From kjb434:

    On top of that Harris County and the City of Houston have there own. The county one specifically targets storm sewers and bayous.
    The link below is to Harris County’s Campaign.
    http://www.cleanwaterways.org/

  10. 10
    From EMME:

    The don’t mess with Texas campaign had local Texas celebrities on tv and radio commercials, and a lot of them. I remember ZZ Top, was Kinky Friedman one of them? They were catchy and infused humor to get the message across. They were pretty effective.

  11. 11
    From Jackson:

    I always wondered why the waterways in Texas seem dirtier in general than waterways in other cities in North America. I know the brownness of the water is natural, but the garbage sure isn’t.

    Is it a cultural thing???

  12. 12
    From MC:

    Looks like clumps of oak pollen to me. And given that oaks are blasting the city right now, it probably is.

  13. 13
    From John:

    My silly little video doesn’t do the regular stream of garbage justice, and no, the white cylindrical objects did not come from oak trees, they came from fast food restaurants.

    I love Houston but I’ve never lived anywhere where people were so prone to throwing crap out their car windows or just plunking it down on a sidewalk as they walk along. it’s pretty appalling.

    my hunch is that it’s the car culture - fewer people see the outdoors as a place they experience - it’s just something to get through between the car door and another building. Every time I walk the dog I’m shocked by how much stuff - including broken glass, for goodness sake - is on the ground in the Heights. Who throws broken glass on a sidewalk? Someone who should lose the right to live among other humans, that’s who.

  14. 14
    From justguessin:

    I agree with John. I live on a corner in the Heights and am astounded by the amount of trash that appears in my yard weekly — at least a few fast food cups/bags, beer cans, food wrappers– all assumed to be thrown out a window when at the stop sign. Buffalo Bayou by the Omni Hotel/Houstonian is also littered with garbage. If it is noticeable there, I can’t imagine how bad it is in less pricy parts of town.

    I will also blame lax enforcement of trash dumpsters at jobsites/public areas. The amount of trash that collects at Durham/W 11th St is astounding. I feel bad for those who live in the houses right by there.

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