Bruce Napolitano, a paddler from Waterville, was among dozens of trash men and trash women out on the Androscoggin River this weekend.

Bruce Napolitano, a canoeist from Waterville, was among dozens of trash men and trash women who were out this past weekend cleaning up the Androscoggin River.
Scott Andrews photos

On Saturday, Bruce and I picked up litter on a section of the river between Worumbu Dam and Pejepscot Dam in the Lisbon-Topsham-Durham-Brunswick area. This was our second trash collection of the season. Back in May, Bruce and I picked up litter on a section of the Saco River in Biddeford-Saco.

Numerically, plastic items were our biggest haul on Saturday. Shopping bags and other everyday plastic items were ubiquitous. A truck tire was the heaviest and the detached door of an office safe aroused the most curiosity.

Plastic items were Bruce's biggest haul, ranging from shopping bags to lengths of PVC piping.

Several other larger items were on an island and surrounded by lush beds of poison ivy. Eschewing the rash impulse to charge into the woods and haul them out, Bruce and I chose the Falstaffian strategy (discretion trumps valor) of waiting till next spring, before the itchy perennial has sprouted.

This past weekend's Androscoggin clean-up was organized by Communities Getting Involved. The clean-up continues through the paddling season, and there's still time to get involved and help out.

Later, I'll try to get a more complete report on what's been accomplished.

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