Pennypack Park cleanup inventory: something for everyone

Neighbors of one northeast Philadelphia community compiled quite the list of finds from a recent cleanup effort. One of the volunteers posted to the NEastPhilly site, documenting the day and all of its findings.

Plan Philly has done a wonderful job at itemizing the list:

What do a shopping cart, a blue comb, four car tires without rims, two baby dolls, and a Frisbee have in common? They’re all on a bizarre list of “other” things found by Friends of Pennypack Park volunteers during a recent weekend cleanup of Pennypack on the Delaware.

In addition to hauling off 42 bags of trash, here’s what volunteers found:

• one-half of a bag of cans• one penny• part of a shopping cart• one whole shopping cart in the Delaware River – very far from mint condition, though it strolled the aisles of Sam’s Club• an ancient artifact in the guise of a metal milk crate• a tape measure• a Tupperware bowl• a flower pot• a green dust pan (surprisingly its alternate use when not adding to a trash pile is cleaning up after one)• a blue comb (not trashed by a short-haired critter)• 12 wooden tree stakes• a gas canister (remember we were by the river, just downstream from the Baxter Water Treatment Plant – not something we were fond of finding)• a Spiderman soft-sided Lunch Box (try explaining this to your parents: my lunch box that I claimed I lost in school was found washed up on the banks of the Delaware. If you’re going to play hooky remember that the river always tattles)• just in time for those too early holiday displays — last year’s plastic Christmas ball• a wooden stake (just in time to defeat the Halloween vampires)• an unopened container of baby wipes (to wipe your hands off afterwards)• three bags of tree limbs (trash is trash; make your own compost pile or take your yard waste to State and Ashburner on Saturdays)• the ubiquitous green plastic resin chair• a paint tray holder• a blue trash crate• multiple parts from a car frame• part of a car jack• two truck tires with rims (good for an advanced park workout)• four car tires without rims (good for a beginner’s park workout)• a big piece of wood• six more pieces of wood• an iron rod• a pair of jockey shorts• a Croc shoe• four kinds of flip flops• a Bear Necessity bear hard plastic toy• a Disney pink cupcake with mouse ears toy• a child’s beach shovel (well, we were at the river, close enough)• a Waterblaster water gun• two baby dolls• a Frisbee• And the piece de resistance: 14 different kinds of balls (clean your mind, not that kind): two baseballs, a wiffle ball, a ball-type toy, a red rubber ball, two golf balls, one softball, two plastic balls, an over-sized tennis ball, four soccer balls, a small plastic basketball, a small plastic tennis ball, a mid-sized rubber ball, a big super ball, and finally, a regular sized super ball.

The moral of the story? Littering is wrong thought collectively interesting. Still, don’t do it.