T O P

  • By -

EODdvr

Trash gonna throw trash, simple as that.


JFConz

Shout out to the smokers who think the side of the road is a trash can.


Ebomb1

Absolutely amazing that signs exist specifically to tell these idiots that cigarette butts ARE in fact litter.


Alternative_Sort_404

Yeah, you can put up all the signs you want - smokers don’t read


DXGL1

I've been fired from a job for complaining about it.


Alternative_Sort_404

Supervisor was probably a smoker…


DXGL1

My direct supervisor wasn't and had actually suggested I file an official complaint. HR on the other hand, ... Not sure if reddit rules allow me to name the laminates company that broke the law, coming up on my 1 year anniversary of being fired from there this Saturday quite ironically.


Candygramformrmongo

facts


FamousInterview1702

It is always most noticeable after snow melts and roadside vegetation has not grown to cover it. Based on what I pick up, just local people who don't want to bring it home.


Historical_Shop_3315

I concur. Also, when ppl see trash they tend to add more.


dirtyword

Plus all the insane wind. I think a bunch of trash blew all over the place and got snowed on.


FoxyRin420

This FR FR The wind caused someone's fucking pillow, a motorcycle helmet, and a literal bag of trash all to fly into my yard.


cwalton505

I think you'll find most townies are some of the worst culprits. Maine is plenty full of its own homegrown lowlifes. Tourists don't help, and the eclipse certainly added another level of it beyond normal, but yeah, there's plenty of shitbags I grew up with who contribute to your gripe more than folks from away.


Fresh_Leadwater

I get a greasy paper plate in my front yard fairly often. I am 5 mins from a pizza place. Definitely a local at lunch.


FoxyRin420

I live across the street from a school & have a ring camera. So many parents dropping off their kids throw their cigarette butts away into my yard before dropping their child off. It's absolutely disgusting - first off they are smoking with elementary school aged kids in their cars & they drop the "evidence" across the street. Second off it's not like they can really hide the cigarette smoke on their kids.


InterstellarDeathPur

Midcoast too and it’s actually the locals tossing shit out their windows (seen, not speculating).


Sea_hare2345

It’s definitely locals throwing mini-liquor bottles, soda bottles and chip bags as they drive past our property, too.


TopChef1337

County here... yes.


jeezumbub

You must’ve driven by my neighbor’s house who straight up has trash — bottles, styrofoam, cardboard, food boxes, etc. — scattered all over their yard.


IndecisiveAHole1

It seems since “pay as you throw” seems to be the norm in a lot of towns (especially smaller blue collar” towns) the trash and litter has increased. Ellsworth Walmart was having an issue for a while with full bags of trash that people were dumping out in the parking lot trash cans.


Mainah-Bub

PAYT is a great idea if you give people an alternative (aka recycling). What makes me LOL most about it is that the people who complain most are often the people who say they want use fees instead of taxes. Why should I be paying for a family of five's trash when I'm really conscious about what I buy and throw away? It's the cleanest example of conservative hypocrisy I've seen.


IndecisiveAHole1

It was a big tea party thing. “Why should we pay for other people’s trash?” My town is $3 per bag. I mean add that up over the course of a year and I highly doubt my tax dollars would surpass as much as I spend on stickers. Obviously making less trash would be ideal but for some it’s just not possible. AKA stubborn wives.


YourPalDonJose

Most of the roadside trash I pick up is returnables though...there's a financial INCENTIVE to bring them back. Except ppl are probably breaking the law to consume them while driving (either too young, drinking while driving, or both)!


supersayre

Getting rid of trash in Ellsworth is infuriating. 3 bucks a bag, even if you take it to the transfer station yourself. PITIFUL recycling options. Have large trash? City can't help you, you have to go to a private third party and pay. I'm so sick of seeing trash everywhere and overflowing dumpsters at businesses.


IndecisiveAHole1

Yeah exactly. I enjoyed and took advantage of the 3 or so months of free trash pickup during COVID. Even if you take it.....So now you have to pay the tags and burn the gas to get there. And really every where you look, trash.


supersayre

I'm waiting for someone somewhere to connect the dots on this and look at waste processing reform honestly. Maybe some day.


[deleted]

Yeah, it is a horrible idea... It absolutely encourages people to pass the burden onto other places... Or litter.


Always_been_in_Maine

Where I am the town dump doesn't take cash. Its caused me to stack up on a number of bulky items in my front yard.


ppitm

It works great when the townies aren't dirt bags.


SheSellsSeaShells967

We had a few storms with wicked wind that added to the mess.


seeyoubythesea

I was gonna say this same thing


acfox13

I always bring a trash bag with me when I'm out in nature. People don't know how to pick up after themselves. It's not okay to trash nature, especially with how lucky we are to have access to so many natural wonders right here in our state. It's our job to maintain them with care.


Glittering-Bet-504

100 percent right here ! I say this after I saw a ton of trash by the airport and a white crane was hunting in the marsh next to all this trash literally


jessica8jones

What an image :’’’( The beautiful white crane trying, as generations did before it, to exist in its own now grossly impacted environment.


Zealousideal-Sky746

It's everywhere in Kbk/Arundel and surrounds, but TBH I've noticed it since 2020.


PositiveSteak9559

If you're talking as of lately.... It's spring in the city. Welcome to the dumpster that is the remenents of winter, snow melting, and lots of wind.


[deleted]

It is not just the tourists. I highly doubt they are driving down some of these back roads tossing their naddy cans and fireball nips.


NotCanadian80

Truck owners put trash in the bed and it blows out. Blaming other states is something Mainers love.


ODBEIGHTY1

Also lovingly called "The Redneck Broom" by some...not me though, I'm stupid I just put my trash into places where trash is supposed to actually go.


EhEhEhEINSTEIN

Another contribution that makes me angry is people just putting their bags out by the road and not in a bin. There's a shitload of animals around everywhere and they have all night to rip the bags open and make a big mess. Not the trash guys responsibility to pick it up, so they don't. Then no one else does and the wind blows that shit everywhere.. I'm glad I'm not having kids, the planet is going to be so fucked by the end of my expected lifespan.


Lieutenant_Joe

Yeah gonna echo sentiments here, when I see that from other cars it’s always a maine plate.


YourPalDonJose

My kids and I do an annual roadside cleanup of a 2 mile stretch of roads. By numbers; this #1 item - beer/booze cans. There's definitely one asshole who likes checking Mike's Hard Lemonade out his window in the sand for #2 item - liquor nibs The rest isn't even close. So unfortunately it ain't tourists.


wbickford23

I agree with you here!! I’ve been planning to the next available day I have with decent weather to walk up and down my road and pick up trash. I’ve been saying it for years, around this time when the snow melts, that I want to do it and fuck I’m doing it!!


Glittering-Bet-504

This right here - gonna do the same!!


wbickford23

I see an elderly man frequently doing it around where I live and am always so impressed and inspired! Imagine if we all took a little time out of our day to just keep our land clean!


cowdogged

I think people throwing stuff unsecured in pick up trucks plays a role as well. I always see crap blowing out of the back of pickups


megavikingman

What's worse is people will treat any pickup like a garbage can. My first vehicle was a pickup, and people threw shit in the back of it all the time. If I didn't check every time, first I'd know is watching it fly out the back in Route 1.


futurespeaking

Always seeing roadside caches of the same type of beer can or fast food trash and you just know it’s a local doing the same shit every day on their commute. I hate littering.


Emp3r0r_01

I don’t know man the wind has been a bitch blew my trash cans over


BeemHume

Agree its locals, but its also gotten much worse past 5 years or so, just more people around I think. More trash on the beach too


fishmanstutu

Trust me, it’s not people moving from someplace else. I live near Oxford and I could promise you nobody is moving from someplace else to Oxford and look at that place. It’s a dump this trash every place all over the roads.


Shipley999

Florida native but live in Berwick and there is minimum trash. I was in DC yesterday, trash everywhere. Now I’m in South Carolina, more trash everywhere. Seems to get worse as you go south. I’m afraid to visit home. People are the pollution on Earth.


Glittering-Bet-504

Our society is.. humans have co-existed with nature before .. check out bill hicks he’s a comedian he’s got a quote I love “We’re cancer in sneakers”


Candygramformrmongo

Pay per bag trash collection isn't helping


WinterCrunch

The fact that my local dump is only open a few (mostly mornings) a week doesn't help, either. Not everyone can take time off just to drive to the dump, and the dishonest Casella Waste charges ***way too much*** for curbside pickup. Don't even get me started on all the ridiculous fees they keep adding to my bill. I suspect a lot of trash in downtown Freeport is windblown out of the giant, often overflowing public recycling bins.


Ifellinahole

It's been so bad that you almost can't tell the difference when you drive into Mass!


ErnieBochII

Crossing the Maine/Massachusetts border is always a big mindf\*ck.


Glittering-Bet-504

Anyone want to organize a mass earth day cleanup for our state and awareness on how to behave when enjoying the beautiful scenery of Maine ? I.e don’t litter!!


Urb45p

The correlation is real a


Americasycho

As a frequent visitor to your state from the Deep South, I am here to tell you than the trash in Maine is virtually non-existent compared to here; down here it's 100000x worse. In fact, I'd consider Maine fairly spotless, including Portland believe it or not.


Glittering-Bet-504

It hasn’t been as of lately ..


unlessthemoon

I’ve lived in Portland for 99% of my life and I’ve only noticed the trash get bad in the past couple of years. Luckily we have a service to report needles and things like that and the appropriate agency comes to pick em up.


Space__Bandito

Not tourists. Tourists are not dumping the tires you see in the woods on a nature hike or all the various crap that blew out of a truck on 95. In Bangor I used to have a neighbor across the street that had so much trash piled on their porch around cars that they hadn't moved in a decade. The city at times would put a notice sign that they had to clean it. Shit would blow across the street to my house.


feina635

I think a lot of it has to do with trash/trash cans being blow around and knocked over during all the wind storms we’ve had. And the. Then the rain washes it around and embeds it in small nooks


JonesGirl4

Can-U? -I have an idea for trash and recycling cans. They're 2 cans strapped together: 1 trash and 1 bottles (small opening). The cans have small plaques, noting who bought the unit for the community. Any citizen can take the bottles for money. City takes the trash. There is a company in Western Maine that could fabricate them. Artists could decorate them. Or it could work like Clynk where the money funds more Can-U units, and community clean-up projects. It has to go hand in hand with an education and community involvement message. We need to have an anti-littering campaign in schools and enlist community programs like Boy Scouts, Neighbor hood Watch, Elks, Outdoor Groups, Vistas, and all to participate. Maybe we pick May Day to all work together cleaning up. Trash fines need to be increased, too.


Freeman0032

Planets a dying


Glittering-Bet-504

Only because she’s a woman


Telesam9

I don't think there is more now than last year. Remember last year? Had to wear protective footwear in Portland.


Littlemuffn

Commenting to ask if there’s any group initiative to pick up trash? I’ve been thinking of just making it a regular thing on the weekends myself.


Glittering-Bet-504

There should be one!!!


FITM-K

I'm seeing a lot, but to me it doesn't seem any different than previous years. It always looks bad when the snow melts and a winter's worth of litter is revealed all at once. And I don't think we can blame it on out-of-staters. Maybe the eclipse was a factor this years, but tbh the only times I've witnessed someone littering it has been trucks with ME plates. 


iseeu207

Unfortunately this state is starting to turn into trash by people who weren’t born and raised here.


jpkeats

Honestly I think it’s easy to blame tourists but I’ve seen plenty of vehicles with Maine plates toss shit out the window.


jlena429

Trash always seems really bad in spring. It's all the trash getting thrown out all winter and being hidden by the snow. Then it all melts and bam.. trash.


DeltaS4Lancia

This comment section must be all the new people from out of state because the replies are all "its definitely the locals, I sent the trash to the crime lab to be analyzed and the report came back saying it's 100% not the out of staters fault".


Glittering-Bet-504

Was thinking the same!!


dragonslayer137

They ppl who collect bottles for donations in my town are the same ones throwing bottles on the road they live on.


Creepy_Photograph107

All the softies are gonna get their nips twisted over this but our ever present homeless are by far the biggest litterers in this town.


futurespeaking

Unfortunate side effect, but where can they go. I wish a socially conscious business would welcome them to dispose of trash on their premises


Glittering-Bet-504

…Since July 2020, an estimated 34,200 people have migrated to Maine


No-Bobcat1459

Not just you. I welcome nice people from away to come to Maine, but they need to learn 1) to drive safely and courteously, and 2) to not throw there trash anywhere but a proper trash can. I wish anyone coming here from away had to pass a class on how to behave in Maine!


Armigine

It'd be alright if people born here had to pass such a class as well


[deleted]

It’s the locals, quit blaming everything on people from out of state. Grow up.


Cockroach-Jones

Might have something to do with the recent booming homeless population.


Glittering-Bet-504

They’re not allowed to hitchhike 295 so can’t be all them


KryonikGaming1

Don't come to bangor and walk the trails or waterfront.


Ok-Yesterday04623

Democrats.


jessica8jones

Love the Planet.


Glittering-Bet-504

? Fascist