Grand Rapids Citizens Remove the Dumpster From the River!
They did it! The impossible dumpster feat, that the city said would need to be tended only once the river slowed down, has been conquered! It wasn't a couple of city employees who completed this task, it was two self proclaimed "river rats".Keith Brown and Wade Baumgardner are Grand Rapids residents who are proud of their city and willing to do whatever it takes to keep it looking nice. Yesterday, they went to serious lengths for just that reason. The illustrious blue dumpster in the middle of the Grand River, that we've all come to know and, well, despise- is now gone! This is all thanks to Keith, Wade, and a couple of buckets.
It was reported last week that the dumpster weighs at least 15,000 lbs filled with water, and would be impossible to remove at that weight. Apparently, not so much. The men began emptying the dumpster by tossing the water out in buckets. Once they got enough of the water out, it began to float, and they were able to steer it toward the shore of Ah-Nab-Awen Park.
The men aren't amateurs when it comes to cleaning up the river, they've gotten scrap metal and other items out before. Although they felt confident in their abilities to get the receptacle out, Baumgardner said, “It’s like going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. You don’t know what to expect.”
The dumpster company came with a tow truck and retrieved it once it was onshore. The city has yet to comment on the men's actions, but they said that they did as part of their civic duty; "It kind makes our city look like trash,” Baumgardner said. “And we don’t want our city to look like trash to outsiders.”
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