By Martie Thompson
editor@floridanewsline.com
If you travel along Greenland Road or Old St. Augustine Road in the morning, you’ve likely seen a couple with garbage bags picking up trash on a regular basis. Meet Jan and Jack Douglas, 34-year residents of Mandarin, who have been helping to keep their corner of the community clean for the past two years.
“We’ve experienced many heartwarming displays of appreciation,” Jan Douglas said. “Just about every morning we have someone honk and wave to us.”
Jan Douglas, a retired property manager, said the whole thing started when her husband Jack, retired from the electrical wholesale business, was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago that required major surgery. During his recovery, all of the household tasks fell to her and she started walking to build up her strength and also so she could clear her mind for a little while each day.
“As I walked, I noticed the trash and one day I came back home and told Jack I couldn’t keep walking past it anymore,” Jan Douglas said. “I went and bought a trash grabber and took one of our garbage bags — and now it’s become a mission in life.”
Soon, Jack Douglas was strong enough to join his wife and now their two hour walks are a daily habit (except they sometimes take Sundays off). The couple has two different routes, one along Greenland Road — they start on one side of the street and then cross to return home, picking up trash on both sides — and one along Old St. Augustine Road. The Greenland route is about three-and-a-quarter miles and the Old St. Augustine Road route is about four miles and Jan Douglas said it takes about two hours to cover each. She said both routes include the St. Joseph’s diocese corners and when the weather gets cooler, they plan to expand their routes.
Jan Douglas said the most common items they pick up are cigarette butts, food containers, cans, and a lot of small liquor bottles. Empty mulch bags are also common and she suspects that they have blown off from the trucks of landscaping companies due to not being secured.
“Litter is such a solvable problem if people would just exercise common sense,” she said. “I can’t think of any place someone would be headed that there wouldn’t be a trash receptacle available once there … headed home, to work, the mall, grocery shopping, the doctor’s office, church, etc. We can solve this problem at no cost to anyone.”
The Douglases are happy when they learn that they have inspired others to also walk and pick up litter. They are aware of groups of people who are cleaning up Hood Landing Road as well as other roads in Mandarin.
“So much positive has come from this,” Jan Douglas said. “We’ve befriended some of the local landscape contractors and we see that they’re starting to pick up litter, too. Also, we have been recognized when standing in line at Publix! ‘Aren’t you the trash people from Greenland Road?’”
Photo courtesy Joanne Kazmierski
Jan and Jack Douglas on one of their morning walks in September.
