Scores of volunteers fan out across South Portland to pick up litter

SOUTH PORTLAND Scores canada goose outlet parka of people toting garbage and recycling bags fanned out across South Portland on Saturday to extract a year worth of trash from the landscape as part of South Portland Land Trust Earth Day Cleanup.

The annual event is one of the region largest and canada goose outlet canada oldest delittering efforts centered on Earth Day, an international celebration of environmental protection marking its 48th anniversary on Sunday. Other Earth Day celebrations were scheduled across the state throughout the weekend and beyond.

Children Museum Theatre of Maine Portland Museum will have seeds to plant, mud to play with, cheap Canada Goose natural materials to create art with and more. Those attending can meet live animals with animal rehabilitator Josh Sparks (additional fee) and handle live caterpillars and moths with David Champlin, USM biology professor. Throughout the day, the museum will canada goose clearance sale also have earthy story times, special face painting, and a collection of live honeybees, turtles, and tidepool creatures. In the afternoon, visitors can take home a seedling to plant, compliments Canada Goose Parka of Hancock Lumber (while supplies last). Free with admission.

Best Dog on Earth Day canada goose store Rangeley Rangeley Health and Wellness and the Rangeley Lakes Chamber of Commerce canada goose outlet shop are sponsoring the Best Dog on buy canada goose jacket cheap Earth Day event, a celebration of dogs and Earth Day that includes a Fun Run/Walk (with or without your dog).

Unity Unity College will celebrate Earth Week with music, lectures, hands on activities, games, and community activities that emphasize the nurturing, sustainability oriented spirit of the founding of Unity College in 1965 and the original Earth Day in 1970.

been doing this for 30 years, said Tom Blake, a cleanup coordinator.

Last year about 150 people canada goose outlet showed up in the rain for the cleanup. The event saw a peak 302 volunteers turn out eight years ago to collect nearly one canada goose outlet store uk ton of litter and 45 bags of recyclables, said Richard Rottkov, a past president of the land trust and a cleanup coordinator. Rottkov said approximately 175 volunteers participated this year. The exact number of trash bags will be determined Monday when the city does its collection, but Rottkov estimated it was about 50.

The event draws volunteers from both South Portland and surrounding communities.

Seasoned volunteers said they find all sorts of strange trash. City public works crews haul away the litter at the end of the day. Some participants have been taking part in the trash pickup for years, said Rottkov.

The event is popular with families because it is an easy way to show children how hands on volunteering can make a real difference, Rottkov said.

want to teach their children about good stewardship, he said.

The land trust set up a staging area at Mill Creek Park, where volunteers were assigned one canada goose outlet uk of 40 cleanup canada goose outlet online cheap canada goose uk uk sites across the city. They were given instructions, sets of rubber gloves and white trash bags for recyclables, black bags cheap canada goose for trash, and green canada goose jacket outlet bags for cans and bottles, with proceeds from the bottle deposits going back to the land trust. There were refreshments canada goose outlet jackets and prizes donated by canada goose outlet black friday South Portland merchants.

Justin Stafinski of South Portland and Angela Athearn of Portland stopped by to gather cleanup equipment for a group of Canada Goose Jackets about 10 members of the Eastpoint Christian Church. His group planned to collect trash along the Clarks Pond Canada Goose Coats On Sale Trail near the church. Stafinski predicted the cleanup would take about three hours.

year we found needles, said Stafinski, referring to hypodermic syringes.

Olivia Devine, 8, a South Portland third grader, was headed out to the Greenbelt Walkway with her Brownie Troop 593. She said she had previous experience picking up trash at Fort Williams in Cape Elizabeth, where she found many cigarette butts and plastic bags.

didn surprise me, Olivia said.

Julie Lefebvre and her Girl Scout Troop 1533 joined forces with Boy Scout Troop 37. Lefebvre, a sixth grade math and science teacher at Mahoney Middle School, said last year her troop worked a quarter mile section along Broadway between Dunkin Donuts and Easy Day bowling lanes, which they hoped goose outlet canada to do again on Saturday.

found eight shopping canada goose outlet nyc https://www.baertakreation.de carts which we hauled out for public works, said Lefebvre.

The South Portland Land Trust is a private, nonprofit group of about 200 members that is working to create and preserve open space and establish 20 miles of trails that link to trails in surrounding communities.