I am so sick of people using Skyline Parkway outlooks as dumpsters…

wskyline Mar 10, 2013 25 Comments

The latest asshole person to do so? Someone with bundles and bundles of Budgeteer papers and ads that decided to toss them off the overlook (for unknown motives; I’ll keep my hypothesis to myself). As I was walking my dog today I stumbled upon this disgusting site.



(This photo shows just one pile, they were spread out all over) There wasn’t much we could do while walking, besides call the DNT delivery phone line, but of course they aren’t open on Sundays, and it wouldn’t let me just leave a message. So, we went back later to pick it all up, and it filled up my entire car. Whoever did this is awful, I seriously hope the DNT and Budgeteer is able to identify who and how someone was able to get hold of so many papers, and dump them. But today’s dump is just one tiny bit of the problem.

I can’t tell you how often people throw things off this outlook, and usually it is electronics like TVs, microwaves, mini fridges, etc. Every time I walk by there’s something new. I really wish there was something we could do shake some sense into people to just pay the $5 to legally dispose of that kind of stuff, but I really don’t know how. Any ideas?

In the meantime, once it turns spring and the snow melts I’ll post some pics of the other junk people decide should be left to leak chemicals all over the hillside.

^plus two bins full in the back seat.

A view this beautiful shouldn't be marred by such waste...

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25 Comments

emmadogs

about 12 years ago 

Can we move some of the cameras that the City has installed at street intersections, and reinstall them on Skyline, and the trailheads, and anywhere else people are damaging our land and/or cars.  Catch them, fine them, make them do community clean-up, and make/save some money for the taxpayers.

Paul Lundgren

about 12 years ago 

Skyline being the "Inspiration Point" of Duluth, putting cameras there might be a little bit pervy.

gluvin

about 12 years ago 

Perv factor aside.  Cameras might be an option.  Also, concerned citizens like the author should have a number to call to report anyone caught in the act!

emmadogs

about 12 years ago 

Paul, you're right.  I guess that didn't work out so well for Duluth Sauna/UMD.

wskyline

about 12 years ago 

I don't think cameras would be effective to prevent dumping in general, sadly I think it would just cause people to dump somewhere else along the drive instead of right at the overlook. It seems like they are almost doing the city a favor by dumping them at the overlook due to the fact that it is a hill there, not a cliff like it is on other parts of the drive, which would make it much more difficult to climb down/up to clean up. 

The fact that the city has to pay to have people come and remove the junk and presumably pays to recycle it is really unfortunate, it blows my mind that people can spend hundreds of dollars on a new tv but won't spend 5 dollars and 20 minutes of time to go recycle their old one. 

Gluvin, I agree, or a number to report junk anywhere in the city would be useful, if one exists I don't know about it. Orange street is another sad depository for this junk, although it seems that Skyline is for small appliances, Orange is for things like water heaters and fridges.

Barrett Chase

about 12 years ago 

[img]http://www.perfectduluthday.com/wp-content/uploads/comments/dnsskyline.jpg[/img]

Knowing those areas at night, I'm sure the cameras would almost immediately be vandalized.

emmadogs

about 12 years ago 

Wskyline, thank you for taking the time and trouble and expense to clean that mess up.

Bret

about 12 years ago 

We have a neighbor that supposedly gets paid to deliver the Budgeteer, including to our house.  In the over nine years we've lived there we have received the Budgeteer twice.  But, bundles of them appear weekly in their recycling.

Emerickson

about 12 years ago 

Cameras will be posted at the trail heads shortly, due to ongoing theft and car break-ins. This is in the works.

Emerickson

about 12 years ago 

I was wondering why we only receive the Budgeteer once or twice a year, sometimes less often than that.

edgeways

about 12 years ago 

There's a small cliff in Downers Park up here in Woodland that gets a bunch of tires and electronics tossed over from time to time.

Rae

about 12 years ago 

+100 to wskyline for cleaning up a mess that you had no hand in creating.  You are an outstanding citizen!


I get the Budgeteer delivered so often I wonder how I can stop it from coming to my house.  I feel guilty moving it directly to the recycling bin without even opening it first.

pats

about 12 years ago 

The Budgeteer is a problem.  I am one who recycles it as soon as I pick it up off my porch.  Why is it okay for a business to drop things off at my private residence that I don't want?  I've tried calling to get them to stop, but no one can ever tell me why that's not possible, just that it's not. I hope someone alerts them to the mess wskyline cleaned up; it should be their problem.

[email protected]

about 12 years ago 

Just to be clear and fair:  I love the Budgeteer.  One of the best things about getting Sunday delivery of the DNT is that, within a week of that subscription, the Budgeteer started arriving every Saturday.  (Otherwise, my apartment complex was skipped for the Budgeteer.)

It's nice to have a sneak peak at the Sunday ads, the coupons from local businesses printed in the paper itself are awesome, and whether you like the opinions or not, it's one way to get a read on the opinions of the town.

--db

Sonya

about 12 years ago 

I kinda feel the need to say that the Budgeteer is not as bad as it used to be, and it's definitely improved since Naomi Yaeger Bischoff took over as editor.  I like the profiles of local artists, nonprofits, etc., local book reviews, Larry Weber's weekly column, and Linda Legarde Grover's occasional column.  I used to recycle the Budgeteer without looking at it, too, but it's worth paging through now.

wskyline

about 12 years ago 

I want to make it clear that I reached out to the DNT/Budgeteer immediately after finding this, and they have been very responsive to my complaints. I have no comment on the quality of the newspapers in general, I don't think its relevant to my complaint. 

I appreciate the kind words, and am disappointed by the fact that this is going on in other parts of the city as well. I hope we can all keep doing our part to keep our neighborhoods clean.

DaVe

about 12 years ago 

You might need to call more than once, but you can stop delivery on the Budgeteer. My favorite is  the little blue waste basket with recycling arrows on it, labeled "Budgeteer," which I saw on someone's front porch.

Aside from the major dumps, people also fill up the overlook parking lots with litter. Looks like hell.

Paul Lundgren

about 12 years ago 

As a former editor of the Budgeteer (16 years ago) and a current reader, I do not wish to disparage the paper, but I saw this sign by a mailbox a long time ago and got a kick out of it.



I sized the image to use as a PDD banner, but then I thought it might be interpreted as kind of mean. (If you click it you can see it at full PDD banner size.)

I think it is quite valuable to have free newspapers in our community, even if they don't provide 1/100 of the information the daily paper does. You get what you pay for, right?

It sucks when papers end up blowing around the neighborhood, but at least newsprint is better than plastic pop bottles.

pats

about 12 years ago 

My comment was not intended to be critical of the quality of the Budgeteer.  I only wanted to point out that if you don't want it delivered, it's difficult to stop it.

BadCat!

about 12 years ago 

First of all, thanks for picking up the papers on Skyline!

Second, I actually like having the Budgeteer as it is like a second free newspaper with extra coupons. However, when I didn't want it, it showed up on my porch regardless of who I talked to to not have it delivered.

Also, my parents have a house on Park Point with a fence that faces the beach. My dad was always complaining that people would just throw their trash over the fence. I didn't really believe the extent of the problem until I looked behind the shed and found a bunch of trash, including a dirty diaper. 

Fucking.A.Gross!!! I really hope they were rude tourists and not locals! I told him he should build an automated catapult to throw the trash back, but he wasn't keen on that.

beatstomper

about 12 years ago 

Whenever I see something like this -- a TV or mattress on the side of the road, or someone who has eaten McDonald's and just tossed the whole bag out the window -- I am always in disbelief that adults can do this. I guess I'm an idealist. Who are these people?? They should suffer an agonizing punishment (maybe picking up trash on the side of the road?).

Terry G.

about 12 years ago 

You all should check out the parking lots and adjacent areas around campus. I swear some students clean their cars out in the lots and just toss every damn thing.

taigagreen

about 12 years ago 

Sad that this kind of senseless dumping still occurs. What an ugly sight.

RubberChicken

about 12 years ago 

You should see some of the junk we find along the railroad tracks up from 40th Avenue West. Mattresses, TVs, appliances, etc.

wskyline

about 12 years ago 

Apparently part of this post ended up on MPR's 5 by 8 series back in March ... check it out here (#4).

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