December 9, 2015

15 Years of Tallying Trash

Well, I don't think we kept accurate trash tallies in years 1-7...but we did start compiling them and publishing them on here all the way back to 2008 under the tag "Trash Tally's.

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 trash
139 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:


Saddest Item:  Dead Garter Snake entwined in Fishing Line
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...