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03/01/2017 07:10 AMFor many years, the Town of Madison hosted a Green Up Clean Up event, but it fell to the wayside for a few years. Recently the town decided to revive the event and this year’s Green Up Clean Up will be held on Earth Day, Saturday, April 22.
“It’s a great opportunity for teambuilding and understanding civic pride,” said First Selectman Tom Banisch. “By cleaning up the town, you’re doing something positive and it makes people feel good.”
The 2016 clean up drew more than 100 volunteers, coming from a variety of local organizations like the Rotary, land trust, and Lions. Several scout groups also volunteered as did groups from various churches, businesses, and even neighborhoods. Individuals and families also volunteered.
Those interested in helping can meet near the Green where there will be a Dumpster. Organizers will also be on hand to distribute garbage bags and plastic gloves. Volunteers can choose an area to work on or if they do not have a specific area in mind, organizers can assign them to an area.
“Volunteers then go to their assigned areas and pick up the trash that’s accumulated over the winter,” said Banisch. “We do get children who volunteer [and] one of the difficult things is that we’re cleaning along the roadsides, so we’ll give kids parks or playing fields or a quiet neighborhood and leave the older kids or adult groups to the areas near the roads.”
While this is a town-wide cleanup event, much of the focus is on the downtown area and the “gateway roads,” according to Banisch. The gateways include the Route 1 corridor as well as areas on Mungertown Road like the exit and entrance ramps on the highway.
In the past, the event has been large enough that there was a second Dumpster for depositing collected trash on the north end of town in the Roberts parking lot.
“We always fill a Dumpster with this event, but in the past we’ve had bigger groups and we’re trying to build it back up,” said Banisch. “We are trying to spread into other areas of town, but we focus on gateway roads and entrances to town and the downtown area. It all depends on what people identify as areas to focus on and what we identify.”
For more information or to sign up, visit www.madisonct.org and search “Green Up Clean Up.”