Litter in Skaneateles

All manner of trash this morning, including a faded red innersole from a sneaker, an unknotted plastic bag of dog poop thrown into a shrub at the corner of Onondaga and East Streets (”Thanks, neighbor!”), and many Mamba candy wrappers. I am still not sure why anyone would name a candy after a snake; Wikipedia notes, “When in the striking position, the mamba flattens its neck, hisses very loudly and displays its inky black mouth and deadly fangs. It can rear up around one-third of its body from the ground which allows it to reach heights of approximately four feet. When warding off a threat, the black mamba usually delivers multiple strikes, injecting its potent neuro- and cardiotoxin with each strike.” Available in strawberry, orange, lemon and raspberry. Also: tattered bits of cellophane, cardboard and foil, some blue strapping tape, and a receipt from the Lowe’s on Niagara Falls Boulevard in Amherst, New York. Thank you for waiting to get to Skaneateles before throwing that one out.

What has a huge body and a small brain? If you answered “Brontosaur,” or the more contemporary apellation “Apatosaur,” you are wrong. The correct answer is the New York State legislature, which refuses to place a deposit on the plastic bottles that hold water and energy drinks.

(In an eerie parallel with the legislature, Wikipedia notes, “It is not known how Apatosaurs ate enough food to satisfy their enormous bodies. It is likely that they ate constantly, pausing only to cool off, drink or to remove parasites. It is surmised that they slept standing upright. They likely relied on their enormous size and herd behavior to deter predators.”)

But back to the litter that inspired this sidebar on dinosaurs: This morning’s haul in the pristine Village of Skaneateles was nine (9) plastic bottles, with Coca-Cola’s POWERade the clear winner followed by Gatorade’s G2 and off-brand water bottles.

Not related to hydration but adhering to the theme of oral gratification were an empty Wrigley’s gum box and the lid from a tin of Skoal Long Cut Cherry, of which Bob Beets, a former sales rep for U.S. Tobacco, notes, “Cherry Skoal is for somebody who likes the taste of candy, if you know what I mean.”

Occasionally I pick up a piece of litter upon which ants are feasting on some residual sugar, but today’s prize was a crushed Snapple lid which informed me, “There are 1 million ants for every person in the world.” Not that I doubt Snapple, but who did the census?

This morning I sing the praises of Stuart Haygarth, who collects litter in his native England and doesn’t just throw it into the proper receptacle, doesn’t just write about it, he creates extraordinary works of art with it. Shown above is “Tide,” a chandelier made from beach litter. He notes, “Maybe once a month, I would walk my dog along Dungeness beach in Kent, about two hours from London, and I just started collecting the man-made things I found along the way.” Haygarth’s work is showcased in an article in Dwell magazine, the July/August 2008 issue (pp.180-186), with an article by Michael Grozik. The Millennium chandelier, made from 1000 spent party poppers collected in the wake of London’s 2000 New Year celebrations, is especially breathtaking. My hat is off to Stuart.

On the shoulder of Route 20, between my office and my dentist’s office, a dead deer, a doe, with an empty pack of Marlboro cigarettes in her mouth. Either she picked it up because she thought it was food, and was killed moments later, or worse, someone put the pack in her mouth after she died, thinking it was an amusing picture.

Today, “Litter in Skaneateles” celebrates its first anniversary and the 4,517 visits of the past 12 months. Wahoo! My thanks to the thoughtless for keeping this site in business.

This morning: plastic bottles and aluminum cans from Gatorade, Keystone Light, Schweppes Ginger Ale, Sunny D, G2 (”a low calorie hydrator designed for active lifestyles”) and Arnold Palmer Tee (”a delicately delicious combination of iced tea and lemonade, the perfect beverage for refreshing the taste and reviving the senses”), plus empty cups from Johnny Angel’s and the Kwik-Fill, an empty Marlboro Lights pack and a crumpled receipt from the P&C.

On the walk to work, one label torn from a Poland Spring water bottle touting the new Eco-Shape Bottle, designed with 30% less plastic “to be easier on the environment.”

One empty plastic bottle that held Kool-Aid Bursts Berry Blue; one empty box that held “wildly refreshing” Camel Menthol cigarettes; one Parliament pack that offers us a beach towel we can customize for free; an orange butane disposable cigarette lighter, disposed of; and one half of Sales Manager Bob Sullivan’s business card with a ghostly Chevrolet logo, a red extended-cab truck interrupted at the windshield, and the words “Avalanche - Silverado - Colorado” sounding more like notes from a news story than a list of model names. Bob, I’m sure the litterer kept the other half with your contact information.

Also, the March issue of Abitare magazine has an interesting article about designer Enzo Mari and his trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, during which he wandered in the desert and looked at litter, accompanied by a photographer, Giovanna Silva, and writer Gianluigi Recuperati who describes found objects as “the spectre of an experience, an act of existence: something that happened, on a certain date, in a certain quadrant of the map of time, at a certain latitude, under the effect of a certain wind, and two questions: how do you demonstrate what happened? how do you tell the story?”

“Litter in Skaneateles” would like to welcome a new product this morning: Gatorade A.M. Did you know that nearly 50% of exercisers aren’t fully hydrated before their workout? For those who exercise in the morning, or just walk to school with a hangover, there’s Gatorade A.M., with flavors developed to appeal to you in the morning. This morning, not one but two litterers enjoyed the Tropical Mango flavor. Other trash included a Yuengling can, a paper cup from Johnny Angel’s, a Wegman’s water bottle, an unidentifiable juice bottle, a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup wrapper, a green Shrek ball, a cardboard wrapper from a Snap-On Circuit Tester, a note for the bus driver from 4th-grader Jacob’s mom saying he was walking home — that ’s a plus for walking, Jacob, and a minus for littering the note. Also, three plastic bags of frozen poop. Talk about people who don’t get it; bagging a pet’s offerings only to litter them is sublimely dopey. Are they gift-wrapping for the next generation? Is this a time capsule? Do they think bagged poop is likely to appear on a list for an upcoming scavenger hunt? Who are they leaving these for? The poop elves? Hey, the coming of spring is supposed to be about the crocus, not the poop bag. Shape up.

One empty white plastic bottle that held Wegman’s Kids vitamins with extra vitamin C and a brown bear on the label wearing a green, sleeveless athletic top with matching wristbands to keep the sweat off his paws when he plays tennis. He looks like a very robust and active bear.