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04/16/2019 12:00 AMIt’s time for a town-wide spring cleaning. Saturday, April 27 is Green Up, Clean Up day in Madison and all residents are asked to come out and lend a hand.
The event is generally held at the end of winter in conjunction with Earth Day and has been an important project in the community over the years. Originally established by the Beach & Recreation Department, over the years youth groups and organizations including Friends of Hammonasset, the Rotary Club, the Lions Club, the Madison Land Conservation Trust, the Girl Scouts, and the Boy Scouts have gotten involved.
The event began in 1984 and over the last few years, anywhere between four to five tons of trash have been collected during the event. At a recent Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting, First Selectman Tom Banisch said he hopes all residents and organizations in town participate in this year’s event.
“This year is the 35th anniversary of Green Up, Clean Up and we are looking for a huge turnout this year,” he said. “I am really excited and I am looking forward to everyone getting involved.”
For the event this year, there are two main staffed locations: one crew will be outside the Visitor’s Center downtown next to Memorial Town Hall and the Conservation Commission will staff the second location at Robert’s Food Center parking lot on Route 80. Volunteers will be provided gloves, trash bags, and pokers.
At the BOS meeting on April 8, the board read a proclamation declaring April 27 Green Up, Clean Up day in town.
“Madison has been in the forefront of a shoreline effort to combat litter and through the hard work of town residents, Madison has been given an annual spring cleaning, which is appreciated throughout the whole year,” the proclamation read.
Banisch noted in his April 11 column in this paper that Girl Scout Troop 60380 plans to participate in this year’s event and use the event to continue a conversation in town about the dangers of littering.
“I met members of the troop in my office last week and each girl made a point or asked a pertinent question,” he wrote. “We’re still working on the plan for their continued involvement, but we agreed that they would use Green Up, Clean Up Day as a beginning point of their efforts to change the culture of litter in Madison. They want to create a long-term strategy to educate and inform people to prevent litter.”
Banisch wrote in his column that he hopes an event like Green Up, Clean Up will make residents think about their daily litter habits.
“In addition to the cleanup, we’ll be trying to address what we see as patterns developing in how people dispose of their garbage the wrong way: dog poop bags discarded on the road, nips and small liquor bottles piled up road-side and in neighborhoods, and beer cans thrown away outside of and near restaurants,” he wrote. “Drive down to Brother Mike’s and look on both sides of the road. There are literally dozens of beer cans and bottles.”
Green Up, Clean Up Day is Saturday, April 27 from 8 a.m. to noon. The collection sites are in front of the Visitor Center next to Memorial Town Hall just off of Boston Post Road and Roberts Food Center on Route 80 in North Madison. Groups and volunteers can register to participate on the town website at www.madisonct.org or by calling the Selectman’s Office at 203-245-5602.