One Nation, National Mall-- trash, recycling, and the sun: comments and questions

[nutsnberries]

I attended the event on Saturday with a small group and had a great time. It felt really good to see the White House and know that BO is living in there with his family. The past few times I visited DC, that wasn't the case.

The day was beautiful and we parked ourselves on the grass in front of Lincoln, even though we would have preferred to sit in the shade of a tree because we wanted to be seen from above when the crowd estimate was done. It was sunnier and hotter than we expected. So many people were sitting in the shade. Did that affect the estimate? I guess I don't really know how the estimate is done.

We were surrounded by union workers and it was nice to be among so many like-minded people even though in other ways the crowd was so diverse. You may not believe that here at home in Massachusetts sometimes it's hard to get away from the teabagger talk, but sadly, it's true. I have a little bit more confidence about GOTV for next month now, but it's really an uphill battle.

On the mall, we left with everything we arrived with, including our own refillable water bottles, but there were times when we couldn't get to the fountains to refill them and we ended up with some plastic bottles provided by the kind AFSCME people. There were a few places to recycle plastic but they were overflowing as were the trash receptacles early on in the program. Many people were disturbed by this so I've come here hoping for some answers.

I've looked a bit online but can't find much about what happens with the trash in DC. Is there a single-stream system that pulls out the recyclables? Am I dreaming? On a typical day on the mall, are there adequate containers for trash and recyclable materials? Besides more water fountains, or people arriving with all they could possibly need to drink, what could be done to avoid so much plastic on a hot day?

[nutsnberries]

1. great.

now i see a post from a low post count person, likely a troll, talking about the trash.

my intention was not to denigrate the attendees of One Nation with my post, just so you know...
but it felt bad to leave the mall looking like it did.

[spanone]

5. i don't see that post...where did it go?

[pinboy3niner]

6. Here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9253456

:hi:

[spanone]

7. thanks, didn't realize it was from another post....

confused!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. ignore the trolls

you asked good questions. I hope someone has an answer.

[nutsnberries]

3. thanks. me too. On the Metro, people were talking about

how much money the mall needs to restore the grass, the water in the pools, etc

The mall, the monuments, and all the federal buildings are beautiful. I love DC.
I hope someday it can look its best again.

[lunatica]

4. Most cities have adequate trash bins and cans for everyday use

You'll rarely see them overflowing as the city's upkeep is normal. But when you have an influx of several tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands in a few hours the bins and trash cans overflow very quickly.

What I've noticed is that in spite of that people will dispose of their trash as close to the trash cans as possible. I've seen this in every single liberal rally or march. The city cleaners actually have almost all the trash on the ground surrounding the city trash cans.

I've seen streets that a mere hour before were packed with hundreds of thousands of people without any appreciable trash once they're gone. Usually at the same time the police start taking down the barricades that keep the people from wandering through all the side streets or out of bounds.

Liberals tend to be conservationists so, like you, they're very conscientious of their garbage.

[nutsnberries]

8. well, i do hope there are enough workers to clean it up quickly,

but it's unclear to me whether all the plastic that was put in the trash would end up recycled or dumped. Every trash receptacle should have a place for recyclables next to it. I did not see that.

At the beginning of the day, a guy that lived in DC asked me, "what's the gripe today?" I asked him what he meant and he said, "what are we protesting now? every weekend it's something else on the mall."

So, if any place should be able to handle a crowd, I would expect the National Mall to be a good example.

Like you said, most trash was near the trash bins. But, so many signs, cans, and bottles... I couldn't help but wonder if DC has a single stream system.

[lunatica]

9. DC Garbage collection recycles

All the photos of DC show that the Capital is kept quite clean. Remember it's a tourist town and those are the ones that tend to get the dirtiest, so if it's clean then it's no accident

http://dc.gov/DC/DPW/Services+on+Your+Block/All+Services/Residential+Trash+Collection

[nutsnberries]

15. thank you for the link. but i still don't know what happens to

the recyclables that are put in the trash because there were more trash containers than recycling containers. The system sounds like what I have in my town and if someone puts recyclables in their trash, they end up in the incinerator. We don't need to separate our recyclables from each other, only from the trash.

How hard could it be to have enough, big, clearly marked containers so that it is easy for people to do the right thing on our national mall? I think most people would like this. Who doesn't LOVE when they go somewhere and it's easy to recycle?

[CTyankee]

17. You'd think, tho, that D.C. would have a special sensitivity to the gatherings and marches on

Washington that necessisarily bring on more trash...it's part of their life there!

They should provide extra large bins for garbage and for recyclables...liberals would abide by the rules on those!

[lunatica]

18. If they did bring more bins liberals would use them

That's the entire point of what I wrote. If liberals are conscientious enough to put their garbage around the existing bins then it's obvious they would use bins if there were more.

duh!

[pinboy3niner]

10. Nat'l. Park Svc.: One Nation Rally no messier than other rallies

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9253942

[nutsnberries]

14. i understand that

and was not suggesting that it was messier.

i think it's a great idea for people to bring trash bags to the rally at the end of the month!

[donheld]

11. What they did was leave the town littered with to many republicans

[nutsnberries]

16. true.

;)

[Politicalboi]

12. They should have city shelters help with recycling

Let the people who can, empty full cans of plastic and aluminum and have a truck or van to collect, and let the money go to help the shelter. And we still need to remind people to bring out their trash. Even though there were a lot of people there, this is still no excuse. People who leave trash behind should be pointed out. Those that made the attempt to place it in a full can is all they could do.

[pinboy3niner]

13. See handmade34's OP:

quick note about trash bags...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9253977

And be sure to K&R!