2016 was the fourteenth consecutive year of volunteer action to control trash on the Foxcroft Road. The author conducts this survey as a single observer.

The numbers here noted are understated but accurate. With the total of 1261 individual pieces of trash, 2016 achieved the third highest yearly production since this survey was started.

To aid those first-time readers and as a reminder to past readers of this column, the course of trash collection is a 4.6-mile route of dirt and hard road that includes portions of the Polecat Hill Rd. (Rt. 696), the Foxcroft Rd. (Rt. 626), the Snake Hill Rd. (Rt. 744), and the Millville Rd. (Rt. 743).

The following readily recognizable corporate entities are ranked in order of gross trash production on these public roads:

• AB InBev: 106 (8% of total road trash)
• McDonald's: 82 (7%)
• Pepsi Co: 70 (6%)
• Coca-Cola: 43 (3%)
• 7-Eleven: 32 (3%)
• Marlboro: 21 (2%)
• Chick-fil-A: 21 (2%)
• Dr. Pepper: 12 (1%)
• Green Mountain: 10 (1%)
• Red Bull: 10 (1%)

Observing the raw data, one does not appreciate a hierarchy of trash longevity. The following is a short list of spontaneous degradation times courtesy of the Potomac Riversource website.

1. Cardboard – 2 Months
2. Tin Can – 50 Years
3. Styrofoam – 50 Years
4. Aluminum Can – 200 Years
5. Plastic Bottle – 450 Years
6. Disposable Diaper – 450 Years
7. Glass Bottle – 1 Million Years

Given the futility of waiting for trash to disappear spontaneously, there are certain "rules of the road" that one should follow to ensure one's personal safety when picking up trash. If walking, it is not difficult to find a piece of trash or two. If traveling by car, try going slowly, say 20 mph. Given the large deer population on our country roads, a slow speed is wise and stopping for trash is easily accomplished. Stop only where the sight lines are adequate for following or oncoming traffic. If the sight lines are inadequate, one may then pick up a particular piece of trash on one's return trip while going in the opposite direction. When stopping for one piece of trash, be on the lookout for a second or third piece as will be the case 50% of the time.

Once a section of road is cleaned up, any new trash will be immediately noticeable. Litterers are creatures of habit, and they tend to use the same places for disposal. How often will one have to pick up trash to keep a road clean? In this survey, 1261 pieces of trash were retrieved, i.e., an average of 3.45 per day. To keep a four-mile stretch of road clean requires daily action. Shorter stretches of road, such as the 1.3-mile Polecat Hill Road, require only occasional trash retrieval. Furthermore, when trash has been thrown, it will be obvious and easy to categorize as to time and place.

It is annoying that trash must be picked up so frequently. That trash is recurrent calls for some strategic thinking in that there should be an achievable plan, and that requires some personal responsibility. It is disingenuous to advertise the acceptance of responsibility while failing to perform the services for which one has taken credit. Such is the case on the Foxcroft Road where Foxcroft School has claimed responsibility for road cleanup on a Virginia State "Adopt a Highway" sign, but usually, there is a pile of trash at the "Trailers and Deliveries" entrance. One would hope that the school administration would have more concern for the world beyond the school perimeter. Miss Charlotte would not approve of that pile of trash.

At the beginning of the Foxcroft Road, as one proceeds from the intersection with Rt. 50 past the back entrance to The Salamander Inn, there is a long-standing streak of trash on the left-hand side of the road, the farm frontage of Mr. C. Oliver Iselin. On the right-hand side, Mr. Eric Prince's Homewood Farm, there is not only long-standing trash but a barbed wire fence and a display of eight Trump signs, a veritable trash trifecta. Since Mr. Trump, a man of many promises, did not offer to pick up the trash, I would modestly suggest that Mr. Prince starts on the road to "Making America Great Again" by clearing the road and removing the signs. The election is old news at this point.

"Be the change you want to see in the world." – Mahatma Gandhi