April 23, 2011
Posted by Angie Tschopp.
March 22, 2011
This is our bell. It's an old ships bell that has traveled with me for years. It hangs on our front porch and serves many purposes. It's a call to supper, a call to end the days play, a call to home, a call to freedom. You see I use this bell because I feel kids should be free to get in mud up to their necks, make social decisions, argue, fuss, debate, play, make friends, skin knees, ride bikes and scooters, chase frogs in the creek, build dams  out of twigs and run for their lives from Bigfoo... Continue reading...
Posted by Angie Tschopp. Posted In : My Boys
March 21, 2011
 There once was a sign that stood alone on the side of the road. Patiently waiting for adoption. Wondering when that civic group, scout troop, business, family or single person would come along and agree to take over the roadside that it has so solemnly represented for years. Then one year a citizen was riding along the road and was overwhelmed with the amount of roadside litter she saw. For years she had seen the signs and just never really gave it much thought.
So began my love/hate relatio... Continue reading...
Posted by Angie Tschopp.
March 6, 2011
 Samuel Clemens could not have conjured such a scene with such depth and spontaneity even if he had sat on a porch rocker for a full afternoon drinking even the best Bourbon the South could have ever produced. As Mr. Clemens so eloquently spoke " Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer ". Well that being said I will admit I was not profane in my language but I was firm. You see I decided about three this afternoon that I was well over due for a Sunday afte... Continue reading...
Posted by Angie Tschopp. Posted In : My Boys
March 5, 2011
  Whew after a month of sickness in our house and a two and half day stay in the hospital for my little guy, Griffen. We are finally on the mend. So today I headed out to Cedar Creek Road, about a mile from the house. Tyler and I walked only a half mile up this road and the worked our way back. One mile of walking, watching out for crazy drivers and five bags later we were done for today.  The day was not a total loss I did manage to get a roadside tip out of the trip. Yes those are my flower bo... Continue reading...
Posted by Angie Tschopp.
February 20, 2011
I did not make it out this weekend. Healing from the flu is a process. I have been in Mommy overdrive for the last two weeks caring for the sick in the family. I am pumped and ready to roll for next weekend. Got my brand new orange vest and a case of blue bags for recycling, thank you Miss Pat at the D.O.T. Maintenance office in Bunn. Wonderfully nice folks in the office. I am over the top excited about our commitment to care for a road for the next four years. So in an attempt to motivate you... Continue reading...
Posted by Angie Tschopp.
February 13, 2011
 Today I picked up the last section of this two mile stretch of road. I filed my Adopt-A-Highway application for this road but will not limit my efforts to just this area. There is already evidence of litter returning. I hope to return in a few months to do another clean up. All told in a little over a month twenty six bags of litter have been collected from Hicks Road. Today's litter consisted of soda bottles, a huge sheet of Styrofoam, beer bottles, fast food packaging, cigarette packs, candy... Continue reading...
Posted by Angie Tschopp.
February 6, 2011
Curious with the title. I bet you are and so you should be. You see in olden times sailors would mark their maps with " Here Be Dragons" to indicate unexplored or dangerous territories. Well I discovered three dragons of my own today. Of the K-9 variety. Big, toothed, and of the unconfined variety. I was able to get a picture of my first bag but the second I thought best not to stick around. My first hound of Baskerville was a Bull Mastiff that appeared to be about a year old. Beautiful male... Continue reading...
Posted by Angie Tschopp.
January 30, 2011
Man Oh Man...What a beautiful day. I could not help myself. I jumped on Hix road this am at 10 and stopped for lunch and a much needed break at 12:45. I collected 5 bags this am. After lunch I returned with Tyler and managed to pick up another 9 bags in another two hours. My body is going to hate me in the morning. Oh well.  One thing that can be said, there is a whole lot a drinking going on down Hicks Road. I would say 75 % of the litter picked up today were either beer bottles or cans.  The ne... Continue reading...
Posted by Angie Tschopp.
January 29, 2011
 UGH!!! Two short hours and four bags of trash later. I managed to get out of the house today and hit a target I have been looking at for days. A very small strip of road, less than a 16th of a mile, loaded with trash.  As I picked, at least forty cars passed me. I am hoping that the folks took notice that I was cleaning trash and REALLY wish that if they are the ones littering they will take notice.  Sadly a small section the I cleaned today was cleaned just three weeks ago. That section yielde... Continue reading...
Posted by Angie Tschopp.
January 22, 2011
 Today I looked out my front window to see Tyler and Matthew( a neighbor friend) walking up the drive with a heavy bag of trash. They quickly grabbed another bag and joyfully said " We'll be back". Tyler had decided to pick up trash in a creek bed down the street from our house for his school community service project, and Matthew joined him. This was totally on their own. I am so proud. By this simple act they have made an enormous step forward to manhood. They are taking responsibility for ... Continue reading...
Posted by Angie Tschopp.
January 16, 2011
Today I returned to litter pick up and am trying to catch up with my goal for the year. I am four hours behind in my attempt to pick up for thirty minuets a day. Today I knocked out an hour and a half of that time with a lot of help from my oldest son, Tyler.  We picked up five bags of trash and fifty percent was recycled. We also found a logging truck inner tube, two reusable shopping bags and some deer bones.    As we collected, Tyler was quite for a long while, then he walked up to me and said "... Continue reading...
Posted by Angie Tschopp.
January 16, 2011
 Sure you have heard of recycling, that is unless you have been living in a cave for the last bazillion years. Have you heard of Terracycle? Giving the constant cuts in education budgets many schools are left with the question of where can we get more money. Sure there are options of bake sales and other types of fundraising, but what about looking in your garbage can. Most folks will say Ewww that is disgusting. Not me!!!! A few years ago when my oldest sons class was looking to raise funds ... Continue reading...
Posted by Angie Tschopp.
January 11, 2011
Totally busy with work. Yes, the J.O.B. I am getting behind in my goal but professional obligations have gotten the better of me lately. I hope to get back on track next week and I am sure the litter will be there. It always is, never going away, always growing. I will leave you with this thought for now. Happy pondering.
"And Man created the plastic bag and the tin
and aluminum can and the cellophane wrapper
and the paper plate and the disposable bottle,
and this was good because Man... Continue reading...
Posted by Angie Tschopp.
January 6, 2011
I stopped by to see an old friend early this morning. I dropped by the Neuse River to do a little trash pick up. You see the Neuse and I go way back. At any given point in my life from age six to present this river has been in my life. As a child growing up there was a lake in my community that fed into a tributary that fed to the Neuse. During my teenage years I would gather with my friends at the Falls of the Neuse state park to go swimming on hot summer days. My Mom and I would go for wal... Continue reading...
Posted by Angie Tschopp.
January 6, 2011
  So today started like any other. Coffee at 5 am, check e-mail, check Facebook, fix breakfast, shower then wake up the kids. Only today was really cool because in my e-mail was an invitation to be a Zone Captain for Wake Counties Big Sweep office. Thank you Mrs. Sheila Jones for the opportunity to pursue an obsession. Then I get a call letting me know that I was a Grand Prize winner for a contest that the company I work for was running. Still have no idea the prize yet, but hey I won for book... Continue reading...
Posted by Angie Tschopp.
January 4, 2011
  Hello again..Hicks Road, Youngsville, NC Today after work I stopped at a section of Hicks road right before you get to my neighborhood. There is a soccer field where hundreds of kids practice every week. You would think with all those adults just standing around that somebody would feel the need to clean up after themselves. While not all the trash I picked up today was sports related, there were plenty of beer bottles to go around, somebody has to see this stuff. I do and all I do is drive by... Continue reading...
Posted by Angie Tschopp.
January 4, 2011
Posted by Angie Tschopp.
January 3, 2011
  Well I totally lost my stride today but it was for a good cause. We visited my parents in Walnut Creek, NC today. We had a belated Christmas celebration because weather would not allow travel last weekend. So my thought was, hey I can pick up trash by the lake but that did not happen because of the on and off again rain. Kevin and Tyler managed to get a little fishing in and caught a few. Griffen, Mom and I spent the afternoon at the kitchen table building a Mega Block set while Dad " rested h... Continue reading...
Posted by Angie Tschopp.
January 2, 2011
 OK I'm going to give this another go. Today I donated thirty minutes of my time to pick up trash on the road side near my house. I really would love to know what the neighbors were thinking as I walked down the street with our Radio Flyer Red wagon loaded with trash bags and a trash grabber. That thought stayed with me as I walked down the road side picking up trash. A plastic bottle here,a drink can there, Styrofoam packing, beer bottles, empty liquor bottle, soda cups from a local eatery, to... Continue reading...
Posted by Angie Tschopp.
November 8, 2009
 This morning as I was washing dishes I looked up and noticed a very compressed Styrofoam cup that sits on my window seal. Inscribed on the cup is 8-02-09 - 600 m -Kilo Group - Gulf Stream. That cup has traveled with me from Wilmington, NC, past graduation, the start of my marriage, birth of two beautiful children and the purchase of a house. That cup changed my life. As a group of fifteen students gathered on the deck of the R.V. Dan Moore, we were instructed to place a large Styrofoam cup in ...
Posted by Kevin Tschopp.
November 8, 2009
Today I begin what I hope to be a long journey off healing and sharing my issues with our planet.
Topic today pollution.
Pollution to me is just a result of damn lazy people. Why can't industry plan for clean up ahead of time? Why must a complete habitat collapse occur before someone says, Oops sorry about that. Then stand around scratching heads at trying to find someone else to pay for the clean up. Really folks step up and clean your own crap up. Since my twenties I have not been able to go ... Continue reading...
Posted by Kevin Tschopp.
November 6, 2009
Posted by Kevin Tschopp.
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About Me
| Angie Tschopp |
| Youngsville, Nc |
I am a mother of two beautiful boys and wife to an awesome fella. I am on a quest to eliminate litter. Litter is everywhere and most of it can be recycled. If you are driving down a road in North Carolina, and see a gray haired chick on the side of the road, picking litter, in some kind of tie dye, that would be me. I have no particular place I prefer. My goal for 2011 is to pick up trash for a total of 182.5 hours this year, which is the equivalent of 30 min. a day.
Go Well and thanks for checking in.
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Goal for total hours of collection 2011: 182.5 hours
Total hours collecting to date 2011: 19 hrs 45 min
Total bags of trash collected year to date 2011: 55.5 ( all bags are sorted and what can be recycled, is)
Total bags picked up on Hicks Road, Youngsville, NC out of the total for 2011 : 26
Total bags picked up on Cedar Creek Road, Youngsville, NC out of the total for 2011: 20
Total road miles cleaned up for 2011: 5.5 |
The view was awesome, though. 
All in all not too bad. On a good note I have a neighbor that wants to join me on my next pick.
