Viewpoints
Antifreeze, batteries, shot
gun shells...
By Jerry Cegelske
January 20, 2006
Friday AM
VCRs, shot up TVs, household garbage, burnt magazines, shotgun
shells, McDonalds wrappers, mail, antifreeze, beer and soda cans,
lamps, sofa cushions, auto parts, batteries, live ammunition
and plastic bags are some of the things I've picked
up from one end of the road system to the other, including the
area around Lake Harriet Hunt, in the last few years. Mr.
Nick Tucker suggests in his letter of January 7, 2006 that I
put down my camera, quit whining and just pick up trash.
Trash along North
Tongass Highway
Although I have picked up a
lot of trash, and I am glad Mr. Tucker does also, I, as have
others, have never found it to be on the top of my list of fun
things to do. The purpose of the pictures is to educate
community members of the damage done by those irresponsible people
that chose to litter instead of being responsible for their trash
and taking it to the landfill.
During the cleanup of Revilla Road on April 17th of last year,
several of the people that were picking up the trash remarked
to me that when they started picking up trash, they had a sense
of accomplishment in making the areas cleaner. As they
cleaned up more and more trash, they became angered in the fact
that they were cleaning up someone else's mess (illegally dumped) that
shouldn't have been there in the first place!
Bag of trash blown
out of an uncovered truck on N. Tongass and picked up by Jerry.
There is enough trash littering
our community which was accidentally released without the
illegal dumping of trash by those that care nothing about other
members of the community, but only seek an easy way of getting
rid of their trash for their own gain and ease, that,
and their continued ignorance which will hopefully change
with coming maturity. A woman who previously participated
in burning pallets and leaving a mess now has a different opinion
of it now that she has a young child that can't play in these
areas due to the damage done by others, just as she did.
I invite Mr. Tucker and his friends to participate in the coming
Spring clean-ups planned for the North Tongass Highway and Revilla
Road now that people have again littered them extensively.
I will be there picking up trash as I have previously.
Yours for a trash free Ketchikan!
Jerry Cegelske
E-mail: jerry.cegelske
[AT] borough.ketchikan.ak.us
Ketchikan, AK - USA
About: Jerry Cegelske is a
Code Enforcement Officer with the Ketchikan Gateway Borough.
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