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Loui Tucker doesn't mince words when it comes to litter. "Litter upsets me," she says. "It shows a lack of respect for our planet that people think they can drop their stuff anywhere."
Tucker is also a woman of action.
Whenever she takes Charlie, her beagle/dachshund mix, for a walk, Tucker picks up any trash she sees. She's been doing it since she moved into the Buena Vista neighborhood almost four years ago and for more than two decades before that when she lived on Hanchett Avenue.
"Some people play bridge, I pick up trash," she quips.
Now Tucker and her partner, Sabine Zappe, are responsible for keeping a two-mile stretch of Highway 280 free of trash as part of the Caltrans Adopt-A-Highway Program.
Tucker's area is on the northbound stretch of 280 from Meridian to Saratoga avenues.
Coincidentally, that stretch encompasses many of what the city of San Jose considers "litter hot spots" in City Council District 6.
Tucker first approached Caltrans in June of this year, but got no response to phone calls or emails. Persevering, she finally made contact with someone locally and was given a provisional, one-time permit to pick up trash along that stretch.
"On Oct. 2, I had five friends who went with me to pick up trash," Tucker says.
Impressed with the results, Caltrans gave Tucker a five-year permit, and now she's organizing her next "Trash-a-Thon" for Nov. 6.
Tucker has planned three shifts: 8:30 to 10 a.m.; 10:30 a.m. to noon; and 1:30 to 3 p.m.
"Wear clothing and shoes that you don't care about getting dirty," Tucker advises.
Caltrans regulations require volunteers to wear long pants, shirts with long sleeves and sturdy boots. The state agency supplies required hard hats, orange Adopt-A-Highway vests, plastic goggles, cotton gloves, trash bags and some implements for picking up trash.
Tucker suggests sunscreen and gardening gloves as well, for protection against thorny plants.
Tucker is also scheduling a lunch break from noon to 1:30 p.m. and inviting participants to join her for pizza and soft drinks at Round Table Pizza on Bascom Avenue.
"No, you don't have to eat pizza," she jokes. "I'm buying whatever you decide to eat and drink. If you're doing the last shift, you can come for pizza and then do the highway."
When she's not picking up trash, Tucker works as a consultant doing software training and other services, primarily for law firms. She's also an avid dancer and dance instructor.
In June of this year, Tucker's book Dancing with Cancer was published. It's a collection of weekly essays she wrote and shared with friends via email while battling breast cancer. It includes the physical problems she had as a result of the treatments as well as information on drug therapies and their side effects, mammograms and alternative medicine.
Tucker completed treatments in February 2003.
While Tucker has scheduled her first "Trash-A-Thon" for the first Saturday in November, she isn't certain if future ones will take place on the same weekend each month.
Right now she's gauging interest and looking for volunteers to join her. She's asking those who want to participate to let her know in advance, so she can make sure she has adequate equipment and supplies on hand.
In addition to offering a free lunch, Tucker says she is offering a sense of satisfaction.
"It's wonderfully satisfying to look at a piece of land that used to be strewn with litter and it's now clean," she says.
To volunteer with Loui Tucker and Adopt-A-Highway, email her at loui@louitucker.com or call 408.287.9999.
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Photograph by Erin Day