SOUTHWICK – Keeping Southwick clean is a community effort and it’s one that Albert DeLoreto wants to keep going.
DeLoreto is organizing the 11th Green and Clean, an event sponsored by the Southwick Open Space and Conservation Commission, tomorrow from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.
DeLoreto is seeking volunteers to help with the effort.
“The very first event had 50 volunteers, and I would love to have 50 this Saturday,” he said.
Volunteers will meet at The Notch Travel Center on College Highway to collect bags, donated by Interstate Building Supply, and snacks provided by The Notch and Rite-Aid.
“We ask volunteers to check in and let us know what area they will be cleaning so we can dispatch the DPW there,” said DeLoreto.
The Department of Public Works, which does not normally pick up trash in town, will have two volunteers helping collect trash bags throughout town Saturday.
“In the past we have collected two 20-yard dumpsters,” said DeLoreto.
One 20-yard dumpster holds 200 yards of trash, which is the equivalent of about 20 dump trucks.
DeLoreto said the plan is to try to get to every roadside in Southwick and have volunteers start in their own neighborhoods. If the group did not pick up roadside trash, it would likely stay on the road.
“Our first year we did this we picked up trash that was 30 years old,” he said. “We pulled out at least 100 tires, too. Once we did that, there has been less each year, but I think if we had more volunteers we would collect more trash.”
DeLoreto suggested that anyone who wants to help should talk to organizations they are associated with and identify roads and locations in Southwick needing clean-up.
DeLoreto said residents can clean the roadside in front of their homes and bag the trash and leave it curbside for pick-up.
Call the Southwick Conservation Commission at 896-0182 or 569-6907 to volunteer and let them know how many people will be in your group and where you would like to work.
Or, DeLoreto said, volunteers can just show up Saturday morning wearing their work gloves.
