2016 will mark 15 years for Missouri River Relief. So what can we say about all of this trash that YOU have helped us collect? Well, let's take a look. (Also, check out a cool photo compilation of our 2015 Treasures)
Here is just a partial list of what YOU helped clean up in 2015, from St. Louis to Omaha:
2015 Trash Tally
1,340 bags of trash139 bags of recyclables
7,070 lbs of scrap metal
485 tires
2 tire rims
312 chunks o' styrofoam
32 propane tanks
150 fireworks remnants
6 refrigerators
1 chest freezer
4 hot water heaters
1 pressure tank
1 Freon tank
27 coolers
13.5 chairs
4 TVs
3 gas cans
5 metal gas tanks
2 duck decoys
1 goose decoy
4 fishing poles
1 bow and arrow
9 - 5-gal. metal buckets
16 - 55-gal. metal drums
43 - 55-gal. plastic barrels
61– 5 gal. plastic buckets
9 2-gallon plastic jugs
2 small metal drums
2 20-gallon plastic water tanks
3 200-gallon oil tanks
1 trash can
2 mattresses
3 box springs
1 air mattress
3 fire extinquishers
15 Most Unique Finds in 15 Years
1. Messages in Bottles (approximately 40-50 over 15 yrs)2. Chicken Dance Elmo
3. 1 Sturgeon DNA Sample from the USFWS
4. Beavis & Butthead sitting on a Couch
5. Wind Chimes made out of Bud Light Bottles
6. 1 pair of ruby red slippers
7. Full Jug of Atrazine
8. Pair of Angel Wings
9. Giant Candle shaped like a Strawberry
10. 1957 fiberglass Saber boat
11. 1 set of national bylaws from the Hell's Lovers Motorcycle club
12. 1 Kilo of Cocaine wrapped in duct tape -turned into police
13. Cobbler’s Shoes
14. 1 shot-up Sign that reads: “$50 Reward for information leading to arrest and conviction of any person or persons found willfully mutilating or destroying this sign. The O.J. Gude Co. NY”
15. Dead Baby Dolls--Doll Parts-- and one Inflatable Love Doll
plus many, many more strange and unique items:
Strangest: so many kids toys, how do these end up in the river?
Curious: I always find it strange that we find so many fire extinguishers, we probably find at least 5 a year.
1 replica of the Ameristar Casino behind the Ameristar Casino in St. Charles
1 Leopard Print Stiletto
1 boot filled with concrete
2 1/2 Jet Ski's
1 Nintendo Gun
1 Blow Up Can of Pork and Beans
Hot Tubs (at least 3)
1 “The 4 Most Important Things I Know” CD by Pastor Brian Zahnd with the Word of Life Church in St. Joe, MO still in the wrapper
2 live blue catfish attached to a free floating jug
1 antique sewing machine
1 airplane sponson (pontoon)
1 frisbee "Look Who's Over the Hill and Can Still Get it Up"
1 plastic Swampthing Toy
1 Dog Collar w/ complete dog skeleton & rabies tag
The body of an Electric Guitar
1 unopened bag of Fruity Pebbles
1 framed dolphin print
1 desk and the entire contents of a person’s office, including file cabinet, electronic goods, computer manuals, briefcase, a Bible and much, much more dumped along the Riverfront trail and covered with a tarp
1 Adam Sandler DVD "Going Overboard"
1 Glass Chandelier
1 Studebaker hubcap signed on the inside with a name & city from Oklahoma
1 full, sealed bottle of Virex AIDS medication (valued at $400)
1 steel trap w/ finger bones
1 My Little Pony Lunch Box
1 very ugly Old Woman Rubber Mask
3+ Christmas Trees
1 Teletubby
1 Piano
1 16” Ice Skate
Several Ceramic Toilets
And the Kitchen Sink!
and then there's the...
Top 10 Most Common Items Found on the Missouri River
#1 - Styrofoam#2 - "single-use" Plastic Bottles
#3 - "single-use" Plastic Bags & Food Wrappers
#4 - Other Plastics (bottle caps, straws, chewing tobacco cans and 5-hour energy bottles)
#5 - Tires
#6 Plastic Buckets, Barrels, Tubs & Coolers
#7 - Scrap Metal (steel cables, rods, angle iron, metal strips, poles, t-posts, sheet metal, rebar, etc.)
#8 Balls of every shape, size & color
#9 Shoes & Flip Flops
#10 - Fireworks Remnants, Party & Fisherman's Trash
This is obviously a very generalized list for a graphic I'd like to work up. But I think it reflects what we find out there based on compilations of trash tally's I have been pouring through. Since we don't tear open every bag of trash and count it, I really can't give you accurate data. Just pieces. Like this one...
