Why Are Porn & Animal Carcasses Being Dumped In Our Streams?

Volunteers participated in the 7^th Annual Hinkson Clean Sweep.  Volunteers spent 2 hours picking up trash in 7 creeks across Columbia.  As I pulled up to designated meeting spot I had few expectations.

I grabbed my camera and tripod and followed a group of about 15 volunteers to Bear Creek. Little did I know the section of the creek we were starting at was more than a half-mile down the trail. When we finally arrived, I quickly noticed the trail was non-existent in some areas, leaving me no other option than to roll up my black dress pants and hop in the creek.

I have to admit I did enjoy getting in the action and walking through the creek in my business suit — even if it did cost me a great pair of shoes.

Some of the trash volunteers found left me puzzled. From area rugs to ceiling fans to multiple tennis shoes, I couldn’t help but wonder —Why? Why are these items ending up in a creek? Not only is throwing this trash in the creek polluting our environment, but especially with the holiday season right around the corner I think of how many needy families could put some of these “trash” to great use.

There were of course other pieces of trash that truly left me speechless. A few of the volunteers found porn DVDs and a bag of animal carcasses.  My only question? Why on earth is someone dumping dead animals into a creek?

In just two hours in that one location, volunteers collected more than 1300 pounds of trash. That doesn’t even include trash collected in the 6 other locations during the Clean Sweep. In total, volunteers collected 5,106 pounds of trash.

It was truly amazing seeing what just 25 volunteers were able to accomplish in such a short period of time.  Just imagine what could be accomplished with just a couple more hours or a few more volunteers.

What do you think are some ways we can help prevent people from polluting our environment? What do you think it will take to finally teach people a lesson?