Human Detritus

I have a defined walk route through part of southern McFarland.  Fall, rain and wind produce a detritus as leaves, leaf stalks, twigs, small branches, nuts and the like layer the ground.  In urban/suburban areas this is most noticed in yards and park, and gutter pans of streets.  Yet, beyond the debris of nature there is the human detritus that is useful in the human story, and of use to anthropologists, sociologists and human geographers.  We can learn a great deal about a culture from the human induced detritus that is evident in our landscape.  This blog post will focus on three situations of human induced detritus that are or have been present in the past month on my walk route.

Nov 26 Street Sweeping

First, a new telecom provider is installing conduit for the installation of future fiber optic lines.  The contractors, tend to do a good job cleaning up, although, I did notice them simply flushing sediment to the storm sewer at the end of my street one day.  Installation of conduit requires location of existing utility lines.  That means little yellow, red, blue paint lines and flags pop up in varied yards, streets, and street terraces.  Overtime they get pulled out, and some find their way to the street or on the sidewalk, yet some still remain in place.  Other levels of debris, but more so from the construction workers for the high school project that park on Exchange Street, are cigarette butts.  For some reason smokers seem to prefer throwing their cigarette butt on the ground.  Cigarette butts, I noticed are most visible at signalized intersections.  It is like the just throw the butt out the window when they have completed the draws on the cancer sticks.

Utility locate flag.  Note that the painted lines are  no longer present

Second, it used to be common for dogs to fetch sticks in play, but other dog facilities are now more common.  I don't know if dogs have become much more common or if local units of government are better attending to the needs of dogs.  Locally over the past few years the village in which I live  has responded to dog owners by providing both a dog park, and dog waste stations.  There are two such waste stations on or my walk rout:, one in Lewis Park and the other along Creamery Road not far from where I live.  Dog waste stations are a good thing, and I think most dog walkers are respectful and pick up the waste from their dog.  Like many things in life there are some outliers.  I recall in the past seeing dog walkers with a poop bag in hand dropping it off in park dumpsters, or even in the trash cans of other people.  There are some that simply lay the bag on the curb or sidewalk edge.  I am not sure if they intend to pick it up on the way back, or they simply do not wish to carry the waste.  When I dog sit and take our son's dog, Hudson, for a walk I make sure to pick up his #2.  Last time I took Hudson for a walk I fortunate that he did his number 2 before the first waste station, although I had to walk several blocks to reach the waste station, at least I did not have to carry it the two miles home from that pick up point.  While at the waste station, and even though there was a second bag on the leash, I picked up another bag, to replace the one I used.  My mantra for dog poop bags is "keep 2 handy for #2."  The most disturbing is when the few decided not to pick up their pets  doggie doo.  Maybe they would like to but don't have a bag;  perhaps they don't have the back up system which my dog waste mantra deems appropriate.   Over the past couple weeks there have been two piles of unpicked up dog waste that I see on my walk route.  One unlucky soul stepped in one pile and it is squished and spread out through a short distance.  Keep head down not so much for trip hazards, but for unexpected waste.

Dog fence flag

Finally, is the debris that we humans leave behind, and no better event produces more, in my mind, than Halloween.  The idea for this post actually came from a walk on Nov 1.  In certain locations, candy wrappers were littered along the sidewalk or lay in the curb and gutter. Broken pumpkins lay splattered over yards and door steps from rot or human activity.  Apparently, Halloween produced its fair due of tricks.  This walk made me think of Mike Rowe's "Dirty Jobs" show where in one episode he helped remove gum from the sidewalks in NYC.  In suburbia it seems candy wrappers are more prevalent than gum on the sidewalks; fortunate for a walker such as myself.  As we are now about four weeks past Halloween little of the detritus from trick-or-treating remains easily visible.  Probably either picked up by others, by the street sweeper, or perhaps, and more likely, simply washed down the storm sewers to end up in the streams and lakes.

Cigarette butt in gutter, with sediment from high school project

One item, I noticed was a plastic pumpkin, that was likely used as a child's bag for the treats. On Nov 1 it lay on the sidewalk,and every day it seemed to blow further and further east into someone's yard. I have not now seen it for a few weeks, so I wonder if a homeowner finally picked it up, or it is stuck along a fence line in a backyard.  Knowing the immediate area I tend to think the latter is the case more than the former.  As the cold of winter has set in, the few children that walk to school will occasionally lose a hat, glove or mitten.  As I come across a lost piece of clothing I pick it up and set it on the nearest fire hydrant hopeful that  be reclaimed.  Over the years I have been doing this, I would say most are not reclaimed.

Dog Waste Station on Creamery Road

Human induced detritus can be a lens into our cultural practices.  It is well now past Halloween, but some still have pumpkins on their step which have degraded and now area a frozen pile of mush.  What we learn from this human induced detritus is seldom positive. In fact, most detritus is improperly disposed of waste, most due to simple carelessness.  Today I saw a Toyota hub cap placed along the edge of the sidewalk as if it was found by someone and set to the side for the owner to look for it, or to wait for someone else to pick it up.  The suburban landscape represents a large part of the American culture, and perhaps at some point in time the detritus of suburbia will be featured in an anthropologist's dissertation.

Dog Waste Station in Lewis Park