The nonprofit Litter Free Inc. is holding its annual community cleanup this Saturday, just before Earth Day. The event takes place every spring following the melting of snow in Juneau, which can often reveal a winter’s worth of trash.
“It’s also a great time to beautify our community before visitors come in for the summer, before we are all out enjoying the land and the nicer weather,” John King, board president of Litter Free, said.
Last year the community cleanup involved 800 volunteers who collected 22,140 pounds of waste delivered to the landfill. Friends of Recycling took out an additional 120 pounds of recyclables. Waste Management donates the disposal for the cleanup day. The organizations seek more help sorting through recycling and picking up public lands, such as parks, schools, and beaches. Litter Free partners with a number of organizations and volunteers to achieve the citywide cleanup, a tradition more than 100 years old, according to their website.
If people want to volunteer or become a board member with Litter Free, they can email litterfreeinc@gmail.com.
“Being a board member involves coming to our meetings, which occur every month between October and May,” King said. “It includes getting involved in communities, bringing new ideas. It’s not a huge commitment, but can be if someone wants it to be.”
Volunteers can collect trash bags and gloves from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturday at the Douglas library, Foodland IGA, Western Auto Marine, the main entrance of Fred Meyer, Super Bear IGA, Duck Creek Market, and Forbidden Peak Brewery. After cleaning up public areas, volunteers can tie their bags and place them along the side of a main road by 1:30 p.m. to be taken to the landfill.
The Southeast Alaska Land Trust and the Alaskan Brewing Company Coastal CODE (Clean Oceans Depend on Everyone) program will also organize a cleanup of the Mendenhall Wetlands from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. Volunteers for the wetland cleanup will meet at Vanderbilt Creek, near the bag site at Western Auto Marine, and at Sunny Point. People are recommended to bring a water bottle, Xtratuffs, and reusable gloves.
From noon to 2 p.m. volunteers can enjoy lunch in the Alaskan Brewing Company tasting room, where two youth bikes will be given away in a prize drawing.
“This event’s a powerful reminder that when a community comes together, we can make a real impact,” King said. “Every bag of trash collected is one step closer to a cleaner, healthier and more beautiful. Juneau. It doesn’t matter how much time someone has — if they’re only able to spend half an hour on the 19th, that’s huge.”
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz.garrett@juneauempire.com or (907) 723-9356.
