Garbage Pick-up Update

I went out again this afternoon with my Gopher Deluxe picker-upper thing. After 25 minutes around our Bear neighborhood, I picked up a fairly good load, including two plastic bottles, one crushed beer can, one crushed pop can, two Shoppers newspapers (all went into our recycling bin) and assorted other trash.

One word of advice: If you decide to this, make sure you wear gloves. It can get kind of yucky.

On the trash front, I was curious about the state's littering laws. I called the Delaware State Police and they're researching how many actual arrests were made. But a rep told me that an officer must see the trash being thrown out of a car -- if that's the case -- and even then he or she has discretion. The idea is to make sure people don't do it again.

The rep also told me to talk with DNREC because it also has authority to enforce the law. I need to give someone a call there, but I suspect the agency handles more cases of illegal dumping.

The bottom line: Sounds as if most small litterers won't get hit with a ticket. Stay tuned.

Someone asked me how much the Gopher Deluxe costs. It retails for $24, but the cheapest place I found it online was amazon at $9.99.