December 31, 2020

by drplasticpicker

It’s been a tough month. For the most part our family was able to find joy in being together and grateful to be in good health over the holidays. But the last few days with my arm sore from the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and being fatigued kind of wore me down more than I expected. But the bright side of things is that I’ve started picking up litter around the HMO parking lot, and there is so much litter that it’s very quick to fill a bag. It’s oddly satisfying as I don’t have to walk as far. This gives me more time at home to focus on other things. I’ve committed to picking up 20 bags a month, and this month I finished early and I’m really proud. I’m going to end the month totals today.

You’d be surprised what is behind the HMO parking lot. I found a dryer sheet??? Where in the world did the dryer sheet come from? I’ve found dryer sheets on the beach as well so I’m not surprised. I think it’s just the plastic detritus of our lives spilling into the environment. We all use so much plastic and have so many things, it’s all kind of nauseating. Anyway, other interesting finds in the HMO parking lot are lots of food waste. There is definitely a homeless encampment in the canyon. There were needle syringes, a lot of plastic lid covers, and more cigarette butts than you can imagine. The satisfying part of collecting all that plastic pollution is that some of it was really old and it felt good knowing that just a quick walk and a quick bag makes the entire place so much cleaner. There are birds and bees and insects who live around there as well. There are lizards and snakes and many wild friends. I’m really cleaning it for those friends and for the earth, as for humans – I’m not so sure many humans are worth the effort. The little ones surely are, as I am a pediatrician. But lately I have become disinterested in adult humans. So exhausting. So enamored with themselves. So distracted. I may be describing myself, but I hope not. Did you know that back about 10 years ago, at least 12 million Americans believed there were lizard people trying to take over America? This was a precursor to the QAnon conspiracy people. Literally they thought there were lizard people? 12 million adult Amercians think lizard people are trying to take over the world. Little do those people know, that true lizards would be insulted and that there is plastic raining down on the real lizards of the world. If there were really lizard people, just throw some plastic waste at them with your AM/PM plastic cup lid and it would take them out! No lizard can survive with all the plastic trash in the back of the parking lot which is why I’m cleaning it. Seriously people, lizard people.

So with that, I’m ending the month count totals early and I collected my 20 bags this month and the last two since there were from the HMO parking lot were oddly satisfying. For a grand total of #361 bags. I salvaged 45 items including a Justin Bieber watch for a grand total of #1394 items.

20 Bags of Plastic Pollution

45 Items Salvaged

Object	Total	Fate
Aluminum Cans	20	Recycled
Plastic Bottles	17	Recycled
Sand Toys	3	Gifted
Flip Flops		Donated
Clothing Items	3	Donated
Toys		Gifted
Glass Containers	1	Recycled
Hats		Donated
Tennis Balls		Gifted
Swim Goggles		Donated
Office Supply Items	1	Used (esp the moola!)

And that is it. That has always been the entire point of this blog. Picking up trash and salvaging things from the environment. I appreciate that this monthly post keeps me anchored in why this entire journey began. I really abhor single-use plastics, especially AM/PM plastic drink lids in our HMO Parking Lot!!!

Click here to see how much I’ve collected since the beginning! https://drplasticpicker.com/plastic-picking-round-up/

Click here to see how many bags of ocean plastic pollution I collected in November 2020 https://drplasticpicker.com/november-2020-plastic-picking-totals/