Saturday, March 22, 2008

A different kind of splashdown

A number of drownings in the states of Pennsylvania and Florida might be correlated with the distribution and usage of construction-site remodeling compounds contained in buckets that have a line drawing which shows the figure of a small person leaning over such a bucket partially filled with some liquid. There is a printed warning about leaving the open buckets near children; the empty buckets used in other settings or just sitting around apparently influence wildlife in ways that might cause splash-downs into pools or other bodies of water.

A rush to recycle or dispose of the empty buckets has not been forthcoming, however. One taken from placement nearby a local supermarket, used to contain cigarette butts and other oral-type trash, was put in a recycling bin some distance from the store, after many months of public exposure and a number of drownings -- but it was replaced near the employee bench.

One was found along the sandy trail near a number of 55+ condominium complexes here, together with a fishing line with hook attached to a short length of cut board, as if available to scoop up any creature from the nearby water-pocket using bucket or hook with lure. It too was transferred to a recycling bin, with hook and line inside, but will there be protests?

No comments: