Adopt-A-Highway volunteer does the dirty work

Mendocino County's scenic roads and highways, many of which are litter-free year round, do not maintain themselves.

Countless volunteers, such as Larry Parker, are at the front lines of a continual battle against those who still believe that littering the roadways is an acceptable way of getting rid of trash.

Parker, who has lived in the county for more than 40 years, is retired and lives on the east side of Ukiah. He began picking up trash along East Perkins Street and Redemeyer Road about eight years ago. "Like everyone else, I got tired of seeing trash on the highways," he said. "I started picking up litter about 100 yards on either side of my driveway. Then I started going further and further, until I was cleaning about a two-mile stretch."

At that point, Parker signed up with the county and formally "adopted" the road. This enabled county employees to come to the area and pick up the trash Parker collects.

On light days, Parker uses his Honda scooter and surveys the road, picking up small debris and placing it in an orange bag which he leaves for the county solid waste crew to collect. "When there's a lot of stuff, I walk it," says Parker, who makes a point of doing a thorough job prior to any holidays.

Parker grew up in a family who did not litter, but he remembers the days when tossing a can out of a car was the ubiquitous form of keeping one's vehicle free of garbage. Though the times have

changed and the effects of pollution are understood, Parker is astonished at the amount of unbridled littering that takes place. "I always picked up trash as an individual. Even on other roads, I have materials in my vehicle so that I can pick up stuff if I need to," he explains.

"There are intentional and unintentional litterers," explains Parker. Intentional litterers have no thought about throwing out fast food bags or anything else right from the window of their car. They also include those who illegally dump their garbage.

The unintentional litterer may have some loose debris in the back of a pickup, or something may fly out of an open car window. People hauling their waste to the transfer station may fall into either category. "If their load is uncovered, and stuff is flying out of their truck, they are hauling in an inappropriate fashion. They know they're doing it because the entire time, they are looking out their rearview mirror," Parker notes. The unintentionals, according to Parker, "are a little easier to swallow."

The stretch of road that Parker cleans - from the Deerwood Drive intersection on Redemeyer Road, down Perkins Street to Oak Manor - continues to have a litter problem. "Over the years it hasn't increased, but I haven't seen a decrease," says Parker.

On Parker's stretch of road, he regularly collects the leavings from fast food establishments. "People stop and eat lunch around this area. If I'm lucky, they put everything in the bag, rather than having to pick up individual ketchup packets," he notes.

Picking up trash is dangerous. "People who are driving by are on their own mission. They are essentially on auto-pilot," says Parker, who has also picked up his share of hazardous waste and recently took a class from Wayne Briley, coordinator of the county's Redwood Empire Hazardous Incident Team. Parker has picked up his share of diapers and condoms, and even plastic, disposable dental "flossers."

There's no talking to a litterer, says Parker. "If you're not a police officer and you try to diplomatically point out the problem, you will hear a lot of foul language."

"It's a love/hate kind of thing," Parker says. "I love doing something good for the community, but I hate picking up the trash, especially when I see the same people doing it over and over."

Gradually, Parker has seen signs of a little progress. "I've been doing this so long I'm finally getting the cigarette butts picked up." Parker recently learned from Rebecca Kress, the coordinator of the Russian River Cleanup, just how toxic cigarette butts are to the environment. He is thinking about joining the river cleanup next year, but his own stretch of the road keeps him busy.

"This all falls into the category of unnecessary. If people acted like sane individuals, we wouldn't have this problem. The intentionals' in our community probably won't read this article," says Parker. "Hopefully the unintentionals will see it and think about what they are doing."