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04/20/2022 08:35 AMTo celebrate this upcoming Earth Day, the Chester Land Trust will host the second annual Clean Up Chester volunteer event on Saturday, April 23. The trust, working with both the Town of Chester and the Chester Conservation Commission, will go to various locations across town to remove litter and help preserve the natural environment.
The event will be led by Chester Land Trust President Bill Myers, who oversaw the creation of the clean-up for the holiday.
“I became president of the land trust four years ago, and decided that we needed to do something for Earth Day,” he said. “We contemplated a number of different projects, and we all agreed that a ‘clean up the town day’ would be something that would be beneficial to everybody.”
Volunteers will be asked to meet at the Water Street town-owned parking lot on April 23 at 9 a.m., and will be instructed to go to the targeted areas, which Myers plans to scout before they are cleaned up. According to Myers, areas of concern in which to look for trash include the town’s beaches, Cedar Lake, the commuter parking lot, and boat launches. The clean-up, according to Myers, is truly town-wide in its scale, even going state roads such as Route 148, and the interchange between Exit 6 along Route 9, which is another particular area of concern.
“That area is loaded with trash,” he said. “I guess when people get on the highway, for whatever reason, they seem to want to throw their stuff out.”
Volunteers will be supplied trash bags in which to dispose of found litter and given water bottles and healthy, protein-based snacks bars provided by the Conservation Commission. Volunteers are also being asked to bring their transportation, heavy work gloves, and appropriate footwear, and to also wear bright colors in celebration of the holiday (and for visibility).
Volunteers can leave trash bags on the side of the road at clean-up sites after dedicating as much time as felt necessary, after which Myers will arrive at each site to retrieve the litter-filled bags. Volunteers are also welcome to bring trash bags home with them to dispose of them in their trash cans or Dumpsters, if the amount collected is not too much to handle, according to Myers.
Last year, around 30 volunteers picked up 2 ½ truck-loads of litter, which along with common litter like wrappers and cans, also included tires, car parts, and bumpers. The most common item that was picked up were one-ounce liquor nip bottles, according to Myers.
“We literally collected hundreds and hundreds of those. They were just everywhere. Everyone kept telling me that’s all they picked up,” he said.
The Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection in October 2021 put into effect a five-cent surcharge on nipper bottles, given the widespread problem of citizens littering them across the state. As of April 1, the state requires liquor wholesalers a remittance to municipalities where littered nipper bottles were purchased, and for those funds to be used to enact environmental measures to reduce solid waste generation.
Volunteer numbers for the upcoming clean-up are expected to be higher than last year, according to Myers, and decent, preferably sunny weather, is being hoped for on the day of the event. In the case of rain on the April 23, the clean-up will be moved to Sunday, April 24. For more information, visit www.chesterlandtrust.org.