PLYMOUTH, Minn. — A 77-year-old Minnesota man is doing his part to help the environment.
WCCO reported that Doug Eichten is happy to spend hours on the side of a busy road.
Armed with his nifty nabber, come rain or shine, he picks up 15 pounds of trash a week.
"All of this stuff, on a decent rain, goes into the storm sewers, into the ponds, into the creeks, heads for the Mississippi," Eichten told WCCO. "It endangers wildlife. It's more about that than it is the look of it."
He's been doing it for six years.
Eichten said he got the idea after seeing all the roadside trash while visiting Florida.
During his time alongside Bass Lake Road, Eichten said he'd found pop cans, beer cans, cigarette boxes, and clothing.
But he said there are two things he won't pick up: roadkill and cigarette butts, adding that if he had to pick up the latter, he'd be there for weeks.
Eichten says he's trying to lead by example.
"I hope it's used with the children as a teaching moment. Because there's no need for it, and it should be unacceptable." Eichten said.