"Trash walks" on River Boulevard

Chosen by joggers, bikers and "leisure walkers" for its beautiful sights of the Connecticut river and it very low vehicular traffic, River Boulevard is perhaps the most scenic road in Suffield. 

Unfortunately, it also appears to be the favorite spot of uncivilized drinkers who, mostly at night, systematically litter it, leaving behind a trail of trash, beer and soda cans and bottles, to the chagrin of all (civilized) others who walk along this road during the daytime. 

In addition to the residue left behind by loiters and drinkers, also litter abandoned by careless passersby's abounds.

Readers will not believe what can be found during a stroll on River Boulevard on a beautiful winter Sunday morning, including a soda can used as a spittoon by a tobacco chewer, left roadside full of its disgusting content and a plastic bag containing pet's waste (this I find mind-baffling: wouldn't it be better to just leave your dog's bio-degradable poo on the ground, rather than still on the ground, but in an indestructible plastic bag???).

All of the above, along with beer and soda cans and bottles, candy wrappers, paper and plastic shopping bags, a styrofoam planter, fast food bags and containers, styrofoam cups and broken glass bottles, my wife and I picked up this morning on a "clean-up walk" that yielded some 15 lbs of mixed trash (we had planned to do this during one of many walks from which we returned disgusted and infuriated by people's lack of civility and disregard for nature and public space).

Also, in addition to the occasional littering, for years people have been using one River Boulevard's two bridges to discard all sorts of trash (including mattresses, tires and home appliances!) in the brook below.

I hope that this article will draw some attention to issues that are plaguing not only River Boulevard, but a vast part of our beautiful town (as a weekend biker, I see plenty of similar abandonment and squalor) and defiling its most beautiful spots.

In the recent past, my wife and I have reported the situation described above to the town's Department of Public Works, and we wish to call upon other concerned residents to do the same.

We think that some simple actions would yield immediate results. For instance, occasional nighttime patrolling by police, installation of "no littering/no loitering" signs and… good old neighborhood watch. 

Naturally, along with these "immediate" measures, also education plays an important role, by teaching our youth love and respect for our beautiful, irreplaceable environment.