A sickening sight!
It is absolutely disgusting how some of our neighbors have no respect and no regard for the island they live on. There is more garbage here than I can categorize, and my green tarp is stretched for the first time to its limits, but here is a simplified breakdown:
Many 35kg plastic fertilizer bags
Many plastic shopping bags
Plastic sheeting
Plastic bottles
Glass bottles (I do love the big whiskey jug, and will keep and clean it to use as a small window in some future building!)
Plastic garbage can lid
Various parts of various shoes
Broken dishes
Styrofoam
One massive but partial fishing net
Lots of assorted plastic waste
This all came from one small spot off a wooded path leading to someone's vegetable gardens. The snow has receded in this spot only to reveal an absolutely appalling sight. There is more garbage in this spot than I think I can collect in the next two weeks. It is probably the insidious work of one or two people who travel from their homes to their vegetable gardens and throw away everything imaginable along the path. I have fought really hard not to pass judgement on my neighbors during these first two weeks, even though everyday I would find a new secret dump sight loaded with trash. Today's location, however, has pushed me over the edge and now I am mad.
It is a despicable person who collects all their personal household garbage in large plastic bags only to take it to the forest and throw it randomly all over the place. Most of the stuff I found, and the bulk of what remains in the woods, was already bagged and there were rarely two bags in the same place. That means the perpetrator(s) didn't dump their junk in any one place, but literally scattered it all over the entire forest.
This is not tsunami debris. This is someone's personal waste, with which they actively chose to litter up the forest.
I am more than happy to clean it up, but I am disheartened by the sheer disregard for the island, the forest, the wildlife and the rest of the neighbors on the part of one or two individuals.
It is morally reprehensible for any of this trash to be disposed of in the woods like it has been, but the fishing net is especially terrible. Nets catch things, in the water or on land, it does not matter. I was only able to pull out a portion of this net as the rest was buried under a mountain of dirt and other trash. The only way for me to get it all out would be to use a backhoe and dig up the entire plot. I do not have this luxury, so I took all I could break free.
The island was, and still is, populated by fishermen. When their nets get old or torn, some mend them, but even more throw them in the forests or dump them in the sea.
Last summer, I was passing by a garden patch and noticed something rustling in the weeds followed by faint cries. As I approached I saw that it was a kitten entangled in a fishing net. While struggling to free itself it only became more ensnared. It was slowly asphyxiating due to the many loops tightening around its neck. I tried to free it but could not break the net. I had to run to a neighbor and borrow a pair of scissors. I returned and was able to painstakingly cut it free loop by loop. It was originally flailing about, but once I started freeing it, the kitten calmed down and didn't even scratch me once. After I cut the last loop around its neck, it scampered off in to the woods. After it was gone, I looked at the net only to see that it was several hundred square meters worth of plastic filament netting tossed on top of a couple pumpkin plants presumably to keep the crows away.
Nets may have their place, especially in protecting fruit/nut trees from birds, but they are applied in taut sections and suspended from a support scaffolding, not dumped in a heap for any animal to get caught up in. Today, not a few steps from where I found the net, I startled a cat hiding in the bamboo, which means there are animals living so close to this dangerous garbage. Who knows how many lives that net has claimed.
I am sorry for the rant. I will not just stay mad, however. I will take action and clean up as much of the garbage there and all over this island. I will also talk to anyone who will listen (even if it is in broken Japanese!) and let them know that Ajishima is my home and I will work tirelessly to keep it clean and safe.
Many 35kg plastic fertilizer bags
Many plastic shopping bags
Plastic sheeting
Plastic bottles
Glass bottles (I do love the big whiskey jug, and will keep and clean it to use as a small window in some future building!)
Plastic garbage can lid
Various parts of various shoes
Broken dishes
Styrofoam
One massive but partial fishing net
Lots of assorted plastic waste
This all came from one small spot off a wooded path leading to someone's vegetable gardens. The snow has receded in this spot only to reveal an absolutely appalling sight. There is more garbage in this spot than I think I can collect in the next two weeks. It is probably the insidious work of one or two people who travel from their homes to their vegetable gardens and throw away everything imaginable along the path. I have fought really hard not to pass judgement on my neighbors during these first two weeks, even though everyday I would find a new secret dump sight loaded with trash. Today's location, however, has pushed me over the edge and now I am mad.
It is a despicable person who collects all their personal household garbage in large plastic bags only to take it to the forest and throw it randomly all over the place. Most of the stuff I found, and the bulk of what remains in the woods, was already bagged and there were rarely two bags in the same place. That means the perpetrator(s) didn't dump their junk in any one place, but literally scattered it all over the entire forest.
This is not tsunami debris. This is someone's personal waste, with which they actively chose to litter up the forest.
I am more than happy to clean it up, but I am disheartened by the sheer disregard for the island, the forest, the wildlife and the rest of the neighbors on the part of one or two individuals.
It is morally reprehensible for any of this trash to be disposed of in the woods like it has been, but the fishing net is especially terrible. Nets catch things, in the water or on land, it does not matter. I was only able to pull out a portion of this net as the rest was buried under a mountain of dirt and other trash. The only way for me to get it all out would be to use a backhoe and dig up the entire plot. I do not have this luxury, so I took all I could break free.
The island was, and still is, populated by fishermen. When their nets get old or torn, some mend them, but even more throw them in the forests or dump them in the sea.
Last summer, I was passing by a garden patch and noticed something rustling in the weeds followed by faint cries. As I approached I saw that it was a kitten entangled in a fishing net. While struggling to free itself it only became more ensnared. It was slowly asphyxiating due to the many loops tightening around its neck. I tried to free it but could not break the net. I had to run to a neighbor and borrow a pair of scissors. I returned and was able to painstakingly cut it free loop by loop. It was originally flailing about, but once I started freeing it, the kitten calmed down and didn't even scratch me once. After I cut the last loop around its neck, it scampered off in to the woods. After it was gone, I looked at the net only to see that it was several hundred square meters worth of plastic filament netting tossed on top of a couple pumpkin plants presumably to keep the crows away.
Nets may have their place, especially in protecting fruit/nut trees from birds, but they are applied in taut sections and suspended from a support scaffolding, not dumped in a heap for any animal to get caught up in. Today, not a few steps from where I found the net, I startled a cat hiding in the bamboo, which means there are animals living so close to this dangerous garbage. Who knows how many lives that net has claimed.
I am sorry for the rant. I will not just stay mad, however. I will take action and clean up as much of the garbage there and all over this island. I will also talk to anyone who will listen (even if it is in broken Japanese!) and let them know that Ajishima is my home and I will work tirelessly to keep it clean and safe.
Even with a hundred hands and a hundred bags it would not be enough to clean up this island.
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