Truckloads of trash bags and even a couple of mattresses were carted away last Saturday following two community clean-up efforts marking Earth Day.
In Park Ridge, volunteers collected trash from neighboring forest preserves and along a stretch of railroad track through the city, while in Niles, groups turned out to spruce up a community garden, parkways and forest preserve property during a village-sponsored event.
For Joseph Steinfels, who organized the Park Ridge clean-up, the extent of the trash hiding in the forest preserves surrounding the city was eye opening.
“I think the amount of garbage we collected horrified most people,” he acknowledged.
In all, the clean-up, which drew more than 300 volunteers, produced 121 garbage bags of trash, 16 hub caps, four tires, “a lot” of rusted pieces of metal, and several buckets of broken glass, Steinfels said. Two mattresses were also pulled out of the forest preserve, he said.
A group of middle school students, collecting trash along the Union Pacific railroad tracks between Greenwood Avenue and Dee Road, only made it about four blocks before their supply of trash bags, which they anticipated would last them the entire stretch, were full.
“It just goes to show how much garbage is out there,” Steinfels said.
The clean-up was a partnership with the Forest Preserves of Cook County, which provided materials and disposed of the trash, and a number of Park Ridge clubs and organizations, which provided the volunteers, Steinfels said.
Park Ridge Public Works crews picked up and disposed of the bags of trash collected along the railroad tracks, Steinfels said.
In all, 12 sites were selected for clean-up by groups that included local students, scouting organizations and adult volunteers.
“It was amazing to see the mountains of trash bags that were filled in just a few hours and sad to see how much there remains to be picked up,” said Joan Mattingly of Mary, Seat of Wisdom School, which sent a team of parents and students to the clean-up. “I myself filled two bags with candy wrappers, beer and liquor bottles, baggies, rusting pieces of metal, plastic bags galore, broken up Styrofoam cups, plastic cups, plastic containers, and so much more.”
Steinfels said he got the idea to organize a community clean-up after a March hike with two of his children through the Catherine Chevalier Woods south of Park Ridge revealed a large amount of discarded garbage.
He said he hopes a second clean-up can be organized this summer.
In Niles, the village’s very first Spring Clean-Up Community Event drew 82 interested volunteers in addition to members of village staff, said Katie Schneider, community engagement coordinator.
Roughly half of the participants worked at the Farm on Franks site, the village’s community garden, where they collected trash, mulched trees and pulled weeds, Schneider said. The second group met at the Niles Senior Center and walked down Oakton Street, collecting trash from parkways and Cook County Forest Preserve property west of Caldwell Avenue.
– Original Credit: Village of Niles
– Original Credit: Village of Niles
The volunteers filled the back of a pickup truck with bags of trash.
“I was very surprised at how much trash people collected in such a small area,” Schneider noted.
Like Park Ridge, the event drew volunteers of all ages.
“People were happy to do it, happy to volunteer,” Schneider said. “It was just a really great overall community event.”
