There are still a few weeks until Mother’s Day, but before that, people in central New York will have the chance to take care of Mother Earth.
Earth Day preparations are in full swing at the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency, or OCRRA. Public information officer Tammy Palmer said it’s a good way to take action as the snow melts.
"It's overwhelming at first to see months’ worth of litter, and this is a good way to get that out of the way and start spring more fresh,” Palmer said. “It does help really put in a dent in what happened over the winter, and then the rest of the season, it's about maintenance."
For people who would like to participate, OCRRA is asking for volunteers to choose a safe, public area and register by April 14. OCRRA will provide special stickers for bags and drop-off instructions for after the event.
Palmer said thousands of volunteers participate each year across Onondaga County, and the impact is impressive.
"Last year, we had more than 300 groups. We had more than 4,000 people. They gathered more than 120,000 pounds of litter,” she said. “That's a lot. That's an accomplishment that people should be really feeling good about."
More than three million pounds of litter has been gathered and removed from Onondaga County since the program started in 1991. This year’s cleanup will be on April 24 and April 25.
