Ryan Murray of Grand Marais has a dog with a special gift. It’s especially adept at finding trash when they are out for walks. But it’s a gift that frustrates Murray for obvious reasons. He decided to do something about it. He began picking up the garbage others leave behind.
That led to his creation of the Facebook page Ryan’s Restoration Project, where he posts his efforts to clean up the community and encourages others to do the same. The Cook County Home Center donated some buckets to his cause, as well. As for finding trash, Murray has some observations.
“The side of the road is the worst,” he says. “I find a lot of masks, really a lot of masks.”
He also finds trash accumulates in consistent places.
“When I go downtown, I can get a couple of buckets in 40 minutes,” he says. “It tends to be bad in places where it’s blown into a fence or the corners of buildings.”
We want to give Ryan Murray the credit he is due as we launch a new Northern Wilds initiative called Trophy Trash. Like most everyone, we want to see the area kept clean and we are asking your help in making it that way.
Every month, we will publish a photo of our readers showing off their trash trophies. If we select your photo, you’ll win a prize!
To enter, email your photos to: events@northernwilds.com.
