HOUSTON – It’s not uncommon to spot trash littered along streets in Houston. From cigarette butts to beer bottles, it’s an ever growing battle in a city that added 140,000 residents last year alone.
However, the junk one Houston Heights neighborhood is seeing isn’t your run of the mill.
Instead it’s dirty, disgusting and dangerous.
“Bags full of adult diapers and a fast food wrapper would show up along the busy street,” said Kevin Munsterman, who lives along Studewood Street in Houston Heights.
What appear to be white kitchen garbage bags packed to the brim full of used and dirty adult diapers.
This started off and on about a year ago, but only recently has the disgusting debris shown up more frequently.
“But it really only happened infrequently about a year ago. Until the last two weeks. Just every day,” Munsterman said. “I’ve picked them up the last two weeks almost daily.”
It’s not his job, but rather his self-assigned duty. Munsterman has been walking the blocks around his home for years. With a claw grabber in his hand and a bag in the other, he’s usually looking for those bottles and little bits of trash.
“I really don’t mind. It’s kind of exercise and it just keeps me busy and meet people,” he said. “I find all kinds of crap. You know, it’s amazing.”
Used adult diapers, however, is where he’s drawing the line.
Some of the recent bags have been hit by cars, spreading the waste inside all over the road. You can only imagine how disgusting let alone dangerous it is.
“Even my little grabber didn’t have enough force to pick them up,” Munsterman said. “I actually had to bring a shovel and pick them up and take them to the nearest trash can. I just pick them up and get frustrated.”
You would too. It’s why Munsterman and other neighbors that live and work in the neighborhood are hoping whoever does this cuts the crap.
“I can’t believe that’s a problem once let alone multiple times,” said Taly Thissen. “Be a better human.”
The City of Houston’s Administration and Regulatory Affairs spokesperson encourages residents to call the 311 line if they spot trash like this in their neighborhood.
Meanwhile, the city’s sanitation department plans on having crews out and about in the area to check for any additional debris.
The department issued the following statement:
“The Solid Waste Management Department did not find any illegal dumping complaints in the 3-1-1 system. The last report from this address was in 2023 for ‘Litter in the park.’ We have scheduled a team to survey the area for illegal dumping activity tomorrow. The City is committed to holding violators accountable and encourages residents that witness illegal dumping activity to contact the Houston Police Department’s Environmental Investigations Unit at (713) 525-2728.”
The Houston Police Department says this is considered illegal dumping. Investigators are working to open a case to find who’s behind the dumping.