Earth Day

I spent most of my Earth Day "in the field" with some of my friends from Northland Community Cleanup. I lead the AM event where we plawked(walking and picking up trash) along Maplewoods Parkway. We walked from NE Barry Rd. almost to 152. It was a lovely day to be out in the sunshine and fresh air, helping to make the Northland a little nicer. Today we gathered over 22 bags of trash, several rolls of carpet, an old refrigerator, a car hood, heavy rubber tubing, and at least 5 hubcaps. As much as I enjoy spending time outside with good people I am deeply concerned about the litter situation in our city and state. I have seen first-hand how badly our waters and soils are polluted. We need to take steps to protect our shared resources. We need to investigate how we can prevent this trash from accumulating everywhere we look. The overwhelming majority of the items Northland Community Cleanup collects are single-use food or drink items, mostly drink and mostly plastic. We must take steps to better protect our air, water, and soil. I am passionate about protecting these resources, for all of us, and I am not afraid to get my hands dirty to do so.