More than 125 Granby Land Trust (GLT) volunteers fanned out across Granby over the course of Earth Day Weekend, picking up more than 1.61 tons of roadside trash from 52 miles of road – and several parking lots – as part of the GLT’s Earth Day Roadside Cleanup. That is nearly double the amount of trash collected in last year’s cleanup.
“This community and our Land Trust membership are amazing,” says GLT President Rick Orluk. “Think about that: That’s 3,220 pounds of trash removed from our roadsides. And that doesn’t include the waste people threw in their own bins, or the bottles and cans they recycled. We could not be more grateful to our members and friends for answering our call.”
This is the third year the GLT has organized an Earth Day Roadside Cleanup and the response has grown each year. A “DIY” event, people choose the area in which they would most like to work, and head out at their convenience over the course of four days. “Our goal is to make it easy for people to participate,” says Orluk. “People really want to help, but everyone’s schedule is busy. This way people can contribute on their own time.”
Parishioners from Granby Congregational Church and Valley Brook Community Church, Cub Scouts from Pack 325, members of the Granby Grange, members of the Town Center Advisory Committee, and numerous neighborhood groups, families and friends hit the roads with their grabbers and trash bags, making this a wide-sweeping community effort. “It’s humble, but gratifying work,” said one participant. “You can immediately see the results of your labor.”
Afterwards, participants were invited to Lost Acres Vineyard to enjoy a glass of wine on the house. “We are so grateful to our friends at Lost Acres Vineyard for their support,” says Orluk. “This was more than a free glass of wine. It was a chance for friends to gather and celebrate a job well done.”
The GLT also thanks Paine’s, Inc. for discounting the cost of a dumpster, providing the organization with a central place to collect the garbage.
Litter is unsightly and conveys a lack of respect for nature and a lack of pride in one’s environment. Litter also can cause harm to plants and animals and to people. The GLT organized its cleanup as part of the Great Global Cleanup, a worldwide campaign to remove billions of pieces of trash from neighborhoods, beaches, rivers, lakes, trails and parks — reducing waste and plastic pollution, improving habitats and preventing harm to wildlife and humans.
Now an annual event, the GLT will look to involve even more people next year. “Obviously, we would prefer that people stop littering,” says Orluk. “But until that happens, some very good and kind members of our community will continue to work to set things right.”
