2018 was the sixteenth 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 true. In 2018 there was a record total of 1377 individual pieces of trash, which is 100 pieces greater than any previous year. For the sixteen years the total is 16,798.

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 first piece of trash in 2018 was a plastic McDonald's cup, and the last piece was a plastic container for a 209 mm Magnum Muzzleloader. One could say that 2018 went out with a bang, for someone. Presumably the firearm was used to slay deer. It should be noted that this year in the U.S. 22,000 individuals chose to euthanize themselves with firearms. Today, veterinarians rarely use firearms for euthanasia of horses as was the custom in previous centuries. If we add a few firearm facilitated homicides to the suicide number, then the total approaches that of vehicular related deaths, 37,000 in 2018. Car parts comprised 28 or 2% of total trash. They are frequently found on the road as testament to driving inattentiveness, perhaps combined with inebriation. Plastic car fenders shatter when they collide with trees, stone walls, or other vehicles. What was the cause of impaired driving? AB InBev of course can take credit for Bud Light (75 or 5%), our current individual champion. Miller/Coors is a distant second (44 or 3%) in the beer sector. IPA, 20 cans, is a newcomer to the statistics. There were occasionally whiskey and vodka bottles found, often with moss growing in them, indicating that they were discarded long ago. Glass bottles will take a million years to decompose whereas the paper labels will last only a few months.

Of some interest was the presence of three Suboxone® (buprenophine 8mg and naloxone 2mg) sublingual film wrappers. Suboxone® is a combination narcotic, buprenorphine, and narcotic antagonist, naloxone, which is used therapeutically for withdrawal from opioid addiction. The product also has the potential for narcotic abuse. The Foxcroft road is not I-81, but Middleburg has no immunity from the world's ills. In 2018 more than 70,000 residents of the U.S. suffered fatal drug overdoses. A potential overdose victim could be driving the Foxcroft road as this article is being written.

In conclusion the stand out contributors to our road trash study should be acknowledged. They are ranked by single numbers and percentages:

1. AB InBev: 123 (9%)
2. Plastic Bags: 93 (7%)
3. Generic Cups and Bottles: 74 (5%)
4. Paper Napkins: 71 (5%)
5. Pepsico: 63 (5%)
6. McDonald's: 61 (4%)
7. 7-Eleven: 50 (4%)
8. Miller/Coors: 44 (3%)
9. Coca-Cola: 39 (3%)
10. Car Parts: 28 (2%)

Five of the top ten trash producers use aluminum cans. Worldwide beer and soda can production is immense. According to CRI (Container Recycling Institute) 200 billion aluminum cans are produced every year or 6,700 cans per second, which is enough to circumscribe the planet every 17 hours. As we go forward let us all make America great again, picking up one piece of trash at a time.

"Given a why, one can endure almost any how" Frederick Nietzsche