More than 100 Granby Land Trust (GLT) members and friends fanned out across Granby over the course of Earth Day weekend, picking up roadside trash from more than 50 miles of road as part of the GLT’s fourth annual Earth Day Roadside Cleanup.
“This community and our land trust membership are amazing,” says GLT President Rick Orluk. “Obviously, we would prefer that people stop littering. But until that happens, some very good and kind members of our community have come together, year after year, to remove the litter from our streets.”
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. “We try to make it easy to participate,” says Orluk. “Everyone is busy. This way, people can contribute to a good cause on their own time.”
Litter not only conveys a lack of respect for nature and a lack of pride in one’s environment, it also can cause harm to plants and animals. And while one town’s roadside cleanup isn’t solving the global problem of pollution, we are proud to do what we can to lessen the problem. More importantly, public engagement can help change behavior. For one thing, volunteers may be inspired to reduce their own reliance on single-use plastics. In addition, “Our hope is that once people see our volunteers out there, picking up trash, they’ll think twice before they throw anything more out their car window,” says Orluk.
The GLT thanks Lost Acres Vineyard for its support of the cleanup. The Vineyard poured a free glass of wine (and offered a 10 percent discount on bottles!) to all GLT Earth Day Roadside Cleanup participants. “Lost Acres Vineyard has supported this effort for years,” says Orluk. “They are wonderful community partners.”
The GLT also thanks USA Waste and Recycling for discounting the cost of a dumpster for the cause and the Town of Granby for allowing the dumpster to be placed in the Holcomb Farm parking lot.
