To the Editor:
Years ago I drove an open-bed truck. I always had to check to see if anyone had tossed his or her trash in the back while I was parked in town. People can be such slobs. Quite often there would be bits I would have to clean out before I left. When eyes are forward while driving, the whirlwind effect on an open-bed truck can send things flying out fast, without notice.
One thing we have all noticed is that there has been an increase in the amount of litter on our roadsides these past few years. It’s especially disheartening along the water. The plastic bags, lightweight plastic trash, fertilizer bags, packaging material, sheets of paper, Styrofoam, and plastic-film trash are there for all to see. Most of us agree that it comes from trucks that have lost part of their load.
Homeowners who are hauling recycling and rubbish think their loads are secure when they’re not. Landscape and construction trucks lose plastic wrap or empty bags that slip out the sides beneath their front-to-back pull tarps. Rubbish and recycling trucks don’t quite close everything in when the back door drops down. These are the sources of much of that rubbish gradually making us look like a third-world country.
There is a secure-load law. Doesn’t mean they have to see anything flying out. Just means the load must be secure. It comes with a fine. As does littering. Both are punishable crimes. As with anyone you see breaking the law, take a photo of the truck. Stop and talk to them if you can; that would be the neighborly thing to do. Otherwise, call the Martha’s Vineyard Communications Center at 508-693-1212 and report them. That’s what the police told me to do, so I am passing it along. (Please translate and pass this along to your friends and workers who don’t read English.)
None of the recycling centers on the Island take plastic film, plastic bags, or plastic packaging materials. They are trash here. Be responsible. Secure your load. Don’t be a truck-driving loser.
Constance Messmer
Chilmark
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