---

“I know a man who doesn’t pay to have his trash taken out. How does he get rid of his trash? He gift-wraps it and puts it into an unlocked car.”

Henny Youngman

---

This is one of those columns that fate delivered to me when I went to retrieve our morning papers last week and found several pieces of trash displaying a famous logo.

I don’t blame that well-known eating establishment for that trash but it’s amazing that I can fill a plastic grocery bag every week with trash that ends up on my lawn. I don’t want to pay for disposing of it so if it’s recyclable I do just that or I am nice enough to return it to the business that is printed on it as most of the trash comes from fast-food establishments.

What I have noticed is the largest amount of trash not only my property but others as well is when it’s trash and recycle pickup day on my road. Unfortunately that’s one day for my side of the road and the next day for the other side. The majority of recycled material that becomes roadside debris occurs on those two days which leads me to believe that it is being sucked out of the trucks that pick up recycle materials on those days. I have been in other parts of Windham and been behind those trucks spewing that type of trash. It is also notable that on windy days a lot of paper, paperboard and cardboard are blown around neighborhoods all over Windham.

But it’s sad to say that some of the trash is just thrown out of vehicles on purpose or sucked out of the back of trucks when going fast enough for that to occur. If it’s beer cans or bottles on my lawn, I will gladly add them to my collection because that’s another nickel I get for free. One would think with a not-so-good economy that people would do their best to save money but I guess after driving around town and drinking several beers five or six nickels no longer matter once the buzz takes effect.

One friend brought me an expensive 8-foot fiberglass stepladder he found on the side of the road. Since I couldn’t locate the rightful owner, I donated it to the Windham Veterans Center. I have also found several tools in my yard.

Being observant because of my military career, I have noticed that many residences in Windham never have a blue trash bag on trash pickup days. Once I counted only eight bags on trash day on the road I live on. It kind of makes me wonder where the trash goes. I know that some take their trash in bulk over to EcoMaine (where it’s burned for energy) and that is cheaper than paying for Windham trash bags. Alas, not everyone has a truck or van to do this so it makes me wonder where it goes. Being so observant I have noticed lots of people stopping at any establishment with outside trash cans where they throw quite a lot of trash into and drive off. I have even been inside places like a post office and, lo and behold, someone comes in and drops copious amounts of trash into the trash can inside the post office. There has also been a huge increase in the amount of bulky waste like furniture and mattresses dropped in parking lots and along side roads. Two businesses I know were victims of this and were left paying for the disposal of other people’s junk.

I have witnessed people throwing trash bags into dumpsters belonging to the town of Windham and not just in one location. Some were on weekends and some were during weekdays. That goes along with people using town water to wash their cars. If we could stop this abuse of tax dollars maybe we could have increased services in places like the Windham Public Library.

Lane Hiltunen of Windham finds it disgusting the amount of trash tossed in and around the silver bullet bins at Public Works.