Trash is rarely enough to block physical access, but even milder cases may be enough to reduce the willingness to go to a place, with or without mobility issues. That of course depends on the individual. For some, a cigarette butt on the ground might create enough of a dirt barrier.
For others, food spilled on the sidewalk, dog poo or other items, that are likely to mess up mobility scooter wheels, are too much. The staggering variety of refuse that the human species and their pets leave behind creates many opportunities to practice emotional self-control.
Have you noticed that there seems to be more trash being left behind? We have become more aware of our surroundings as we take our daily scooter rides and the amount of trash we encounter is increasing. We are not sure what is the cause of this is, but we were raised to leave a place better than you found it. That principle still matters. The question is: should we as People of the Mobility Scooter community try to do something about it, or is it safer to just accept it?
We have decided to take accountability for ourselves. To that end we recently purchased a folding grabber tool – the kind with a long handle, rotating jaw, and magnets to pick things up.
Our first adventure with this handy new tool was…educational. Where exactly should we put the trash? Does one of us grab it while the other holds the trash bag? How will we reach things that are further away than the length of the grabber? And what do we do about the fire ants that suddenly found their way into the trash bag? The tool worked for a few pickups before it finally broke.
That being said – it turned into a fun adventure! We discovered that we can do our part, even it if takes a bit of creativity (and better equipment). We were able to fill a half trash bag full and took it to the dumpster – fire ants and all! Next time, we know not to rely on a cheaper grabber tool and will use work gloves. We are not giving up on this mission.
If you’ve discovered tools that work better or have run into similar challenges, we’d love to learn from you!
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