7/29: Much Breaking but Disappointing Plastic Water Bottle News!!!! But Still, Notable Discoveries!!!

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7/29 [blog is updated near-daily; check its mission statement/archive)

Much less than yesterdays's Top-Ten (see below), only six plastic water bottles (pwbs) found in my today's 75-minute pwb expeditionary jog/stroll in the North West (NW) section of the Imperial Capital (see below map).

Well, OK, give me a break -- It can't match yesterday's ten-pbws take (see below) -- when ten pwbs were found by your blogger (bear in mind that Sunday was a day after Saturday, during which taxpayers, on a week-end break, forget/ignore on where to put their trash, and just dump it anywhere; such is a fully-functioning democracy [?]).

Here is one image of an item, found by yours truly today, among of these hithertofore undiscovered plastic jewels/icons:

And another ...

Warning: JB label image not quite similar that the one I found on the street

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Addendum: maybe of interest:

Image from article: Plastic garbage lying on the Aegean sea beach near Athens on June 26, 2018, Greece. (Getty/Milos Bicanski)

Matthew Rozsa, "Biodegradable plastics have existed for decades. So why aren't they mainstream? As earth's oceans Becoming a plastic dumpimg ground, why haven't biodegradable plastics been normalized yet?" https://www.salon.com/2019/07/28/biodegradable-plastics-have-existed-for-decades-so-why-arent-they-mainstream/

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7/28

Plastic-city on the Potomac gets more exciting by the day!!! Ten plastic water bottles found by your "objets trouvés [see]" blogger in the NW area of the Imperial Capital while taking his am 75-minute jog/stroll, including in the hallowed, magical Rock Creek Park (see above/below map), which needs to be preserved from all kinds of pollution to survive/"make it" as one of nature's national monuments. But only we citizens can make that happen. 

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As a not-yet certified but ambitious PWBs Archeologist, I was also amazed to find today (7/28) several pwbs brands I'd never seen before, among them:

BTW, it is "bottled at the source [:] Ölfus Springs, Iceland"

BTW, see an important article of interest, "History of Bottle Bills," under the title, Bottle Bill Resource Guide.  

FYI, One elderly lady (clearly not a "liberal")  I bumped into while picking up trash on my near-daily routine told me: "Taxing these darn plastic bottles would give money to kids and homeless people ... they'd pick up the s--it (this may not have been the exact word she used), bring it to the store, and get paid for it."

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(BLOG MISSION STATEMENT; ARCHIVE BELOW STATEMENT) 

Sunday, May 19, 2019   

JB: Have titled this blog with an "artistic" label
--Seeking "objets trouvés" in the Imperial Capital :) --

(rather than "picking up plastic and other trash/s..t") in DC) ... 

image from

On my quite not infrequent 75-minute jog (stroll might be a better word) in NW Washington DC (down Tilden Street to Rock Creek Park; along the path in Rock Creek Park   

image from 

to Porter Street; up Porter Street to Connecticut Avenue; jog ends at the Van Ness/ UDC metro station) I do my "citizen's thing" and pick up litter.

FYI, I jog (when I do jog rather than stroll, very slowly) with a bag (yes, I plead guilty: ... a plastic bag) in hand where I place the litter.  As I stretch my aging muscles, have taken a special interest in picking up plastic water bottles left empty/half empty along my strollin'/joggin' way. 

(Some of the plastic bottles, btw, are filled with urine, as I've noticed on several occasions on the south side of Tilden Street leading downhill to Rock Creek Park.) 


May I note that the plastic bottles are not the only form of trash I pick up. The waste ranges (aside from its plastic bottled incarnations) from empty aluminum cans/glass bottles to used plastic prophylactics (which I delicately place in my trash bag with the aid of a branch found on a [thank God!] tree-filled environment).  

FYI, below my accounting of yours truly's encounter with human-made "let's throw 'em out, wherever/whatever, even if the shit is homo 'sapiens' objects." 

Pardon the gory details, but here's the trash/litter/junk I find (and pick up, whenever I physically can) on a near-daily basis on the streets/Rock Creek park of our glorious nation's capital:  

• Receipts/bills; paper/paper "tissues": napkins (evidently from from fast-food joints); paper bags containing the remains of "junk food"; "colorful" wrappings from candy manufacturers; cellophane wrap  
• Dumped-wherever-on-the street/sidewalk, no longer "reusable" disposable coffee cups (sorry: I don't know: what are they exactly made of, hardened paper with a touch of plastic?)  Here's the answer I found on: 
• Though they are made largely of paper, disposable coffee cups are lined with plastic polyethylene, which is tightly bonded to the paper making the cups waterproof and therefore able to contain liquid. In addition, the difficulty of recycling coffee cups is increased by the fact they are contaminated with drink 

image from 

 

• 
  
• Circular plastic lids punctured, in the middle, for penetration by plastic straws for imbibing "soft" drinks, cold coffee (?), etc.
• Plastic straws (related to the above): Yes, they're still out there -- lonely motionless plastic worms in our wide open American spaces, often stuck into the ground/trash-infested mud -- despite the DC gov's efforts to limit their use.

• Zach Rybarczyk, who works for the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment, inspects restaurants in Union Station on Jan. 8 to see whether they are still using plastic straws after the city’s ban went into effect this year. Cava passed its inspection. (Calla Kessler/The Washington Post)

• Plastic zipper bags (I suspect from super markets/grocery stores), mostly empty, but often containing crumbs from the consumed food they enveloped
• Cans (mostly for so-called "soft drinks"/beer), often flattened by street traffic and found mostly on curbs
• Glass bottles (again, mostly for beer, but also for "hard" alcohol); Corona appears to be a favorite, often with empty bottles left on Tilden Street (past Connecticut Avenue) in a six-pack cardboard container slightly hidden in its sidewalk/wooded area.
• Remains from junk food bags/containers: plastic knives/forks/spoons; ketchup/other food additives (to give the "food" taste) in relatively small white plastic (not always) rectangular receptacles (half the size of my thumb) with a "slip-off" cover
• Other miscellaneous plastic/elastic objects: combs, ballpoint pens, used /slimy prophylactics, credit cards, rubber bands
• Newspaper pages, in whole on in part, left/dumped on the street/sidewalks (many of which are evidently unread)
• Cardboard, often the largest litter in term of individual size. (Do we have Amazon to thank for this influx of oversize cardboard in our relatively "open" spaces of the imperial capital?) 
• Empty cigarette packs mostly of the "menthol" type; my bad: I don't pick  up cigarette butts; the cigarette packs don't look as "proper" in the below photo when dumped on a sidewalk/street  

• Metal/wire clothes hangers
• Gloves: A real litter discovery for me! Amazing how many gloves (many of them, often "single," are made of plastic).
• Scooters: I not-so-gently push these unregulated atrocious "affordable transportation" gimmicks, exploiting (tax-free?) city space; btw, in urban spaces, it's called a sidewalk, not a sidescooter

• Excuoooose me, but I consider scooters steel/iron/rubber litter, especially if not unregulated on park trails/sidewalks. Their drivers are violently -- yes, mentally violently (I can't think of another word) and narcissistically (correct spelling?) me-me-me first. The mentality behind the free-wheeling scoots: Just leave my groovy "thing" behind wherever/whenever on trails/sidewalks; in other words, to put it violently (if I may interpret the mentality) - f...k you (pointing the finger); below image from "Scooters in Parks"

 

• I'll leave my thing wherever/whenever I f...kin' feel/like. (Note, BTW, are not where the scooters "ride" on tax-payer funded sidewalks/parks, where the scooters-riders abandon their tax-free things on D.C. streets/trails?; also their travelling gadgets (and how really "safe" are they?) are dumped free of charge in parks in pedestrian areas called trails  -- complete eye-sores in a "God-bless-pristine Mother Nature setting."Various car parts, left near/on a sidewalk/curb (especially car wheels, hard to fit in a city waste receptacle)

• Dog shit (pardon my language, I meant pooh) in (usually green) plastic wrappings left "wherever" by evidently well-intentioned animal masters who don't want to be accused of leaving their pest's visiting card behind them without the proper plastic embellishment. (Of course some pooh appears plastic-free, "naturally" in lawns, sidewalks. Pretty gross, even if you are "green.").  (I initially backed down -- for health reasons -- from picking up this plastic-covered shit, but broke down and am now putting the plastic-covered poo in my plastic litter bag. BTW, I recently bumped into an evidently cultivated lady of a certain age on my near-daily trash adventure in our so-called "upscale"neighborhood who said, when I saw her picking up dog shit, "If I don't pick up this pooh, who will?")  
• Kids' toys, usually minuscule and made of plastic -- Is that not the most unacceptable litter "left behind"? Poor kids
• [Plastic] Dental Floss-Picks, usually green in color (I must confess that I don't always pick them up, given their small size), produced, evidently, by different companies

[Note: Given my failing memory, I may be missing, in the below numerical assessment, a plastic water bottle or two.]

Needless to say, the plastic water bottles in NW DC I stumble upon end up in the public waste receptacles in the National Park/along Connecticut Avenue.

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BLOG ARCHIVE

BUT NOW THE SERIOUS PART! STATISTICS!!!

Enjoy the  Statistics: 
Date: no. of plastic water bottles (pwbs) pick ups [on a given day.

 [I may have miscounted, plus or minus, by a bottle or two]
[Missing dates mean no strolling/jogging on that day.]
Chronolgically presented

4/22--15

4/24--eight

4/25--five

4/26--six

4/27--two

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5/3--seven

5/4--five

5/5--4.5 (one bottle was broken in half)

5/6--five (one bottle found on Conn Av after my jog)

5/7--six (including one half-filled bottle on the roof of a car parked in Rock Creek Park; and an empty Perrier plastic bottle -- vive la France! -- along Porter Street)

5/9--two (found on Connecticut Avenue)

5/11--ten!!! The most bottles found since 4/22! ) Porter Street wins with the most plastic bottles!

4/22-5/18--81.5 empty/half empty H20 plastic bottles picked up in the NW section of the Imperial Capital! A World Record!!! (hah, hah, hah) (Please correct my math, unprofessional reporting) No wonder USA is no. 1! 

5/19--one (One plastic water bottle found during a stroll on Connecticut Avenue) 

5/22--two (If my memory serves me right)

5/26--11! Another record plastic water bottle pick-up day!!! 11!!! [see April 11, which held the previous record -- 10] Eleven plastic empty/near empty water bottles picked up (including one, nearly full of urine, on the Tilden Street divider as it leads down to Rock Creek east past Connecticut Avenue!) 

5-27--four, including a Perrier plastic bottle (again, vive la France!) and the first such plastic "water" bottle found by your favorite scavenger: vitamin water)

5/30--eight plastic water bottles [pwbs] found! I could hardly contain my joy (no, I won't say disgust) at such an exciting discovery ...

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6/1--nine pwbs found -- all on Connecticut Avenue (including four in a brown paper bag)

6/2--three pwbs found -- two on Tilden Street
6/4--another three pwbs! One right outside the Czech embassy (located closely next Rock Creek Park) and another, half-full (of water, not urine), along Tilden Street (btw, it's quite amazing how quite a few of these pwbs still contain H20); American wasteful habits at their best? ... Special late evening item! While taking yet another stroll on Connecticut Avenue, I found the following pwb, with the label: "PURIFIED WATER enhanced with minerals for a pure, fresh taste DaSani ... plant bottle" Speaking of "objets trouvés": on the sidewalk along Porter Street, I stumble across the following calling card: "Middle Tennessee State University [Chinese characters] Confucius Institute [Chinese characters] Jack Zhao, Ph.D., Associate Director [Chinese characters; address and phone/email follow] 

6/5--Two pwbs picked up: (a) one -- "mini-sized" and half full on the wall of the Kuwait embassy on Tilden Street (b) two -- a real find: WAIĀKEA water.  From its homepage:

Completely isolated from the rest of the world, WAIĀKEA offers purity in its ultimate, untainted form. 2,400 miles from the nearest industrial landmass and surrounded by 10 million square miles of ocean, WAIĀKEA volcanic water originates in Hawai’i through both snowmelt and rain on the pristine snowcapped peak of the active Mauna Loa volcano, one of the purest environments on Earth. WAIĀKEA is then filtered through thousands of feet of porous lava rock before re-emerging at its source, located at the eastern base of the Mauna Loa volcano in a secluded area surrounded by rich and bio-diverse forest preserves. 

  

6/6--Three pwbs.  Among them another quite unique find, "Wegman's Purified Water," the label of which states: "With minerals added for taste ... Ingredients: Purified Water, Potassium Bicarbonate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Calcium Citrate, Sodium Cloride, Magnesium Oxide" JB query: Purified?

6/7--Six pwbs. Among them, two pwbs containing a yellowish liquid that could only be considered urine. Location of these pwbs: One just outside the Kuwait embassy on Tilden Street, the other along Porter Street.  Finally one pwb that I had never seen before: Signature refreshe [sic] Spring Water (shown below as part of a six-pack) 

6/8--Three pwbs. Among them two new finds! (a) Signature refreshe purified drinking water with minerals added for taste [contrast with above refreshe Spring Water] (b) PurAqua Bra [JB bra?] fresh Spring water

6/9--Busy day! Seven pwbs found, including one in front of the Kuwait embassy, which seems to attract them. And a previously unknown (to me) brand of pwbs discovered: Kirkland Signature purified water with minerals added for taste (shown below as part of a six-pack package; note plea on  label, "please recycle"): 

6/14--Three pwbs found, including one with a previously unknown label (to me): 

6/17--Eight pwbs discovered, including one I didn't know about, the label of which reads: "b JUST THE BASICS - purified water ... Just the basics offers you the pure refreshment your body needs. It's imply a smart decision" (here illustrated as part of a six-pack).

6/18--Five pwbs found, including one half-filled with urine on the west side of Porter Street 

6/19--Only one sad-looking pwb found, crumpled, without a label, on a Connecticut avenue curb near the Burke school ...

6/21--Good pwbs pick-up day!  Six found, including a humongous, still half water-filled, one-gallon specimen on the sidewalk/ north side of Tilden Street, not far from Rock Greek Park.  Here's a pix (not true to its AWESOME size) of this plastic chef-d'œuvre:

 

6/21--[evening] ]--Extra! While on my way to buy toothpaste at the local drug store, I found an unlabeled, squashed pwb on Connecticut Avenue! ... (not worthy of an illustration, poor object)

6/22--During a short mid-morning stroll on Connecticut Avenue, I found yet another lonely pwb (off the Avenue, near the Burke School), but the label of which I had never seen before (life is full of new discoveries!)

6/23--Three pwbs found, none of which is worth special mention.

6/24--Six pwbs found 

6/25--Three pwbs found, including one on Porter street (north side) filled with a yellowish liquid, also known as urine ...

6/30--Another three pwbs found, if I recall properly.
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7/2--Five pwbs found, including one (unopened) near the entrance of the Czech ambassador's residence, and another (empty) right in from of where I, as a non-ambassador, modestly live in a one-bedroom apt. on Connecticut Avenue.

7/6--Two pwbs. Due to the heat and my laziness, have been unable to undertake my daily stroll/jog in the Rock Creek Park area where I live in recent days. However, on my way today to buy groceries at the nearby Giant supermarket on Connecticut Avenue near my modest abode, I picked up two pwbs -- one on Conn Av itself  and the other on the sidewalk. Noted for the record!

7/9-- After yesterday's ground-breaking news of a record downpour in the imperial capital, modestly picked up two wpbs along Connecticut, none of which had "unknown"  or "exotic" labels.

7/10--11 wpbs found, another-record, includes a new (to me) pwb  Note: Numerous pwbs were also discovered by yours truly on the southern side of Tilden Street (past Connecticut Avenue) where some good soul (The DC government?) had cut shrubs/vegetation on that (small) part of the street. All kinds of trash were exposed due to the now absent vegetation, include numerous pwbs. On my next jog/stroll I hope to finish the clean-up of this small space on Tilden Street. Progress is possible step-by-step!

7/11-- Another day of incredible discoveries! While picking up eight wpbs on my nearly daily jog/scroll (needless to say, the heat & humidity didn't allow me to break a speed record), I found three pwbs brands I'd never seen before (here shown in six-pack images): 

Essential Everyday Natural Spring Water

Great Value Purified Drinking Water With Flavor-Enhacing Minerals

7 Select purified water

7/13--Three pwbs found. Among them a "first," evidently originating in New York state, "nirvana"

Image from "Nirvana Spring Water Files Lawsuit, Nestlé Responds"

7/14. Three plastic water bottles found

7/15--Three pwbs found. 

7/16--One pwb found. 

7/18--Three pwbs found. 

7/19--NO, ABSOLUTELY  PWBS FOUND!  Could the very high temperatures in the Washington area  be keeping citizens away from public spaces, thereby sparing the environment from being desecrated by folks "getting rid" of pwbs wherever they see fit outside of their air-conditioned homes, officer ... 

7/20--Two plastic water bottles (pwbs) found.  Below, the image of a first-time find! About one inch of  the otherwise empty "Core"  pwb was filled with urine ...

P.S. But look at these statistics on the bright side: We Americans are now evidently drinking a source of life, water (or so it's labelled by some liquid-peddling corporations), rather than sugary soda bubbly once-canned "drinks" (Hey, people, listen: things don't always go better with Coke or beer) ... And we (the fair sex included) don't need public toilets to urinate from our water-filled kidneys, just use 'em empty plastic water bottles!

7/21-- Two new pwbs specimens found right next to (but not inside)  a waste receptacle on Connecticut Avenue!

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7/22-- One pwb found with a label I'd rarely seen before! (It's the minuscule one on the extreme left of the below pix.)  The joy of discovery never stops! 

7/23: 4 pwbs found. None were identified with a label not discovered before. Indeed, onc pwb crushed on a road leading to Connecticut Avenue had no label at all! What a loss to science!!!

7/24:  Two plastic water bottles found, including one never seen before during my daily jog/stroll in NW DC! -- Member's Mark Purified Water (bottled in Ontario, CA, 91761). 

7/27: Six plastic water bottle found, including the below which I'd only seen once before:

7/28: Ten (!) pwbs found, including the below extraordinary find:

7/29: Six pwbs found, including a not-yet-identified label: