1.13.2008

must-not see tv

I'm not really much of an environmentalist. The extent of my (voluntary) recycling is that I tend to refill beer bottles. I try not to drive more than I have to, but this reflects my aversion to traffic and the price of gas more than anything else. I use a LOT of paper towels to clean house. I eat meat with gusto and I enjoy cooking it over an open, fossil fuel-fueled flame. Hell, I'd probably eat humpback whale steaks if you seasoned them well.

You're not going to find me chained to any trees any time soon, is what I'm saying.

That said, the asshole/s that dumped a television set into the Eno River at the northwest corner of Penny's Bend this last month should have their testicles cut off and fed to them.

Today wasn't the first time I'd seen the offending 22-inch (I first saw it shortly after Christmas) but today was the first day I got genuinely angry about it. I think because it no longer surprised me to see it. And that just isn't right.

What I find particularly galling about it is that someone had to actually go to some trouble to get the TV to this particular spot. Water levels being what they have been for months now, there is absolutely no way it could have been carried downstream from elsewhere...it was dumped where it currently sits, about 10 feet from the shore on the peninsula side of the river (approximately at the point circled in white, below.) Which means it was carried from either the trailhead that ends (as far as I can tell) in someone's backyard on Wanderlust Lane (number 1) or from the parking lot of the nature preserve (number 2)...at a minimum. (I suppose it could have come from the other side of the river, but that would have required throwing it a considerable distance, which seems very unlikely.) That's a minimum of 1000 feet, including a very steep and treacherous (if you are carrying a TV set) descent to the river itself.




Anybody local have a wheelbarrow and a couple of pairs of hip waders? I figure this is a two-person job, to be done safely.

5 comments:

Gino said...

i generally tend to believe litter is caused by inherent laziness, or
the entreprenurial spirit.

isnt there a fee placed on tube TVs and monitors, enforced by the govt?
round here, its the point where if you place one in the trash, your trash will not be collected, and a fine levied against you.
if you attempt to dump it behind a walmart or retailer at night, cameras will catch you, and your plate #.

just guessing.

Brian said...

I have no idea what the deal is here. It is almost certainly not as regulated as California, though. Except maybe in Chapel Hill/Orange County, which is also a pretty decent drive away from the site in question.

Brian said...

And actually, if it was dirven by laziness and/or an attempt to avoid a disposal fee, there is no shortage of popular dumping spots around here (sadly) that would have been much, much easier.

No this was pretty clearly a "fuck you" kind of move.

Gino said...

it took a lot to get it there, no doubt.
but that is one hell of a lot of motivation for such a trivial thing.
those things are heavy enough just taking them up a flight of stairs.

Barry said...

most neighborhoods in Durham have a spring cleanup in conjunction with the city in which all kinds of shit that is ordinarily not picked up on trash day will be picked up.

we pick up TVs, dryers, furniture, etc. the only things that aren't picked are solvents and hazardous chemicals, rims/hubs (tires off the rims are OK) and concrete.

reminds me that i need to schedule this year's cleanup with Solid Waste dept.

we've also had a couple of cleanups in the Ellerbe Creek through our neighborhood, and i'm always amazed at the quantity and variety of stuff that gets dumped there.


drop me a line at DependableErection AT gmail DOT com if you still need someone to help retrieve this thing. i don't have hip waders, but a couple more weeks without rain and that shouldn't be a problem.