Douglas County Solid Waste was able to remove the following from the areas surrounding the loop trail:
Collected in 2020 | Collected in 2021 | Collected in 2022 |
3,379 bags of garbage | 657 bags of garbage | 502 bags of garbage |
742 sleeping bags | 63 sleeping bags | 39 sleeping bags |
4,450 pounds of scrap metal | 1,295 pounds of scrap metal | 230 pounds of scrap metal |
340 needles | 41 needles | 62 needles |
155 bikes | 7 bikes | 10 bikes |
170 drug pipes | 13 drug pipes | 0 drug pipes |
213 knives | 6 knives | 3 knives |
25 shopping carts | 2 shopping carts | 3 shopping carts |
43,951 lbs of garbage disposed at landfill | 20,397 lbs of garbage disposed at landfill | 12, 208 lbs of garbage disposed at landfill |
| Large amount of wire- Razor wire |
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The amount of waste located at the sites in 2020 was staggering & the proximity to the Columbia River made these sites particularly concerning to the environmental safety of our waterways & wildlife.
In 2021 we hired new staff to help focus on cleaning up homeless camps along the Apple Capital Loop Trail and throughout Douglas County
It was a relief to see a decrease in the amount of items we collected in 2021 & the overall garbage disposed of compared to the year before.
Our continued efforts are still paying off. The amount of homeless camps and garbage being disposed on the loop trail have dropped since we started this program in 2020.
This year in 2023 with the efforts of new housing & shelters moving in the area for the homeless & our efforts, we will hopefully continue to see a decrease on the amount of garbage & waste around Douglas County & our loop trail.
