Sunday, April 26, 2009

Cleaning up the town, post Earth Day

Hey all, Melissa again...back so soon because I needed to share a little Earth Day-related bit before it got to be the 4th of July!

This past Saturday was my little burg's town cleanup day, held, as in the past, the weekend closest to Earth Day. I'd been raring to go on this since about January, hoping to rally whoever I could to get out there and pick up some of the detritus that collects in any town over time.

Because the event coincided with my kids' soccer practice -- the reason I didn't participate last year -- I decided to try to tackle the soccer field and playground that are part of our town park.
Thanks to the parents and especially the kids who joined me and mine on a hot, sunny April Saturday to do a little bagging duty!



Signs to rally some support....








Samples of what we found (there was plenty more where this came from)



Citizens pitching in to clean up a place they care about




In the end, we didn't have quite the volume of stuff I had envisioned, but that's what happens when the trash you pick up is mostly cigarette butts (yiiiiigh!) and candy wrappers. All the same, we had fun collecting (lots of golf balls and a few baseballs, as well) and got to feel good about brightening up our park. Can't wait to see if there are photos from the efforts that went on around the rest of the town.

And even now, I find we're all so much more alert to the bits and pieces of castoffs that line the roadways that it's hard not to slam on the brakes and jump out to pick stuff up. So instead of the usual "Make every day Earth Day" closing (with which I totally agree, by the way!), I think maybe I'd say, "Make every day town cleanup day!"

1 comment:

Laurie Sabol said...

Geez, the bags are as big as the kids. I think next year we should try to get smaller bags for the smaller people. By the way, did you bring your bags directly to the transfer station or back to depot square? Just asking because I don't remember seeing you again. Thanks for all you did, and do!

Laurie Sabol