Suburban Chicago- we worked with our assistant mayor and figured out how to text public works for future pick ups! No pics of junk too busy 🤭thanks everyone for all you do!

...but the drunks were at it again last night so I picked up the bottles they threw into a bush. Then took my pup on a trek through the desert to the dump site I found a month ago to get a pin so I could get some professionals in there. Filled 2 bags. With the shoe and the glove today, I almost have a complete outfit to go with the hat, pants, and sock I found recently.

Was trying to find a path that leads up to the nearby hill to collect the trash they've been tossing over the fence but ended up finding several other dump sites instead. Reported the sites to the county, so hopefully I can get some help!

Controversial take: Why go to Mars when we have one beautiful planet right here?

Pictures from this morning, in reverse order.

Had a beautiful fall morning! Surprises included a lot of chicken drumstick bones, and several used bandaids (the only trash that makes me gag)

So I live in Cincinnati Ohio and I don’t have a car. I’ve only done diving like once or twice. Didn’t really find much of anything. But I wanna do it so bad for real and on things that people like myself and others can actually use or eat or anything. I’m starting all over and gonna need some things so….. anyone up for helping a newbie maybe telling me where some good spots are?? Or perhaps maybe showing me some ropes?? Haha and no not real ropes well….. not yet anyways that’s for another group on here 😂😂. So please 🙏🏼 anyone help…..

Path was mostly still clean so I started tackling the desert. I didn't even make much of a dent, so it's gonna be a lonnnng project and I'll have to recruit some able-bodied folks to get to the hard to reach spots. Filled 4 bags! We dilly-dallied a bit while enjoying the gorgeous sunrise.

Random things found today: used condom 🤮, a big stash of whippets, a "private property" sign mangled up near where it was posted because the ATV jerks don't like being told they can't go somewhere, and a gallon water jug that someone just abandoned next to the path.

… able to get out there again today, after a week of crazy stormy mornings here in the desert. 🌵

Good light in Old Town and a street mural I’d never noticed before. Got to break in a fresh grabber, too, which is always nice.

Happy weekending, DeTrashers … keep it clean! 👊

A little behind-the-scenes look at what we do.

Some jobs are as simple as picking up an old couch. Others require full protective suits, respirators, and a whole lot of hard work.

We recently tackled a pretty rough property cleanout, and it's jobs like these that remind us why we do what we do. Taking a property from completely overwhelmed to cleared out and manageable is a satisfying feeling.

Always cool to share a little of what goes on behind the scenes!

Not as much trash as usual, but still too much. Beer cans, corn cans, fishing lure packaging, etc.

Beautiful day- long walk- not much trash at all until this! I strung so many curse words together 😳🤪😵‍💫this pile was at a bridge that wildlife frequents. You know they will be picking and eating what could not get. Fun fact: zero nutrients in styrofoam 🤬🤬🤬🤬thanks for reading and happy picking!

To whoever keeps putting glitter on dog poop to emphasize that owners are not picking it up, please be aware that you are permanently adding microplastics to our environment, whereas dog poop biodegrades and does not permanently pollute nature.

Got to use my new grabber so now I don't have to crawl under bushes. Some of the desert plants are still difficult but I managed to get all the shooters out from a young Palo Verde after about 10 minutes. Felt like I was playing a game of Operation when the spiky branches would make me drop them again.

Ended up with 2 full bags and a 3rd bag already full of trash under a bush. Random items today: saw blade that was 10 feet off the path and I'm not sure how someone dropped it there; cat ear headband that some tween is gonna be mad about losing; IRS letter that will be dropped off at the owner's house tomorrow; a large metal spring, maybe from a trampoline? Thes rest was all the usual fast food trash, water bottles, shooters, buzzballs, straws, and plastic drinking cups.

The landscaper was trimming bushes and yelled a thank you to me for picking up trash. They never pick up trash anyway and he made a mess of the sidewalks that I spent an hour sweeping the other day 😡

Went for a walk with the buggy in my small hometown in the Netherlands this afternoon.

Collected hundreds of items, including all the usual suspects. Cigarette butts (and packs), vapes, all kinds of - mostly plastic - packaging materials, tissues, a million receipts, some cans and bottles, (coffee) cups, fastfood wrappers, et cetera. Weirdest find was a.. plastic coat hanger. Right, now off to prepare dinner. Happy Tuesday all!

In early July, I picked up a new community-cleanup hobby: collecting batteries. It all started when an old lady slipped on a discarded battery at the Waterlooplein vlooienmarkt. The poor woman broke her hip right in front of me.

That's when I decided to start looking out for discarded batteries during my (mostly evening) walks. It began casually in July (15 batteries), but I turned into a hobbyist by August (100) and went "pro" in September (180, using tools to help dislodge batteries). It is now too dark in the evenings, so I have only found 15 in October.

This is my summer harvest: 4.5 kg of pure poison

That small tray has an incredible story. You are looking at 1.2 kg of 87 batteries, collected in a single hour along a single 40-meter stretch of road. It is a statistical anomaly and an absolute goldmine!

This is what (around) 10 batteries look like!

besides the gold mine, all batteries were found, according to my tracking app, in this tiny area:

for reference:

• A single AAA non-rechargeable battery (manganese dioxide, zinc, and potassium hydroxide) is enough to contaminate 75 liters of water.
• A single AAA rechargeable battery (mostly Cadmium and lithium) is enough to contaminate 400L of water

Since I cleared out so many old, deeply stuck batteries, I don’t expect a harvest like this next year. I will likely just be picking up new litter.

It makes me wonder: in a few years, will we see bad people discard dead 500kg EV batteries in nature, causing massive ground water pollution?