You can take positive environmental action this month by joining two cleanup and recycling events on Saturday, March 25th, from 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Keep Newnan Beautiful will be hosting their annual Sweep the Hooch and Electronic Recycling events in which the whole family can participate. With both events happening in tandem, you and yours have several volunteering options to choose from to help create a corridor of cleanliness in Coweta.
The Sweep the Hooch event will take place all throughout the Chattahoochee watershed. You can join one of these opportunities locally at CJ Smith Park at 92 Farmer Street in Newnan, where you’ll meet and serve with one of the event’s sponsors, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, an organization based out of Atlanta on a mission to clean the river and its tributaries through volunteer events. Participating volunteers will be equipped with gloves, grabbers, and trash bags. You will need to wear appropriate clothes for working in and around the creek: closed toed shoes, waders if you want to go in the water. If interested, you will need to register for the event here.
Page Beckwith from Keep Newnan Beautiful observed that the area around CJ park hadn’t been cleaned in several years.
“The debris has accumulated over the past few years,” she admits. “We need to clean it before it goes into the ocean.”
Beckwith also elaborated on the effects of microplastics on our health and how that their journey into our bodies begins with improper waste management.
“[Microplastics are] in the food we eat, the water we drink, and even in samples of human waste. One way you can help reduce the amount of microplastics in the environment is to reduce litter. Bag your trash, recycle appropriately, and pick up litter when you see it.”
And you’re covered for the next step in the cleanup process! Keep Newnan Beautiful is also hosting their annual Electronics Recycling Event also on March 25th. Between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m you can drop off approved electronics at 25 Lagrange Street in Newnan, in the parking lot behind city hall. It’s a great way to purge those laptops and stereos that have been collecting dust in the basement since the last ice age. This annual drop-by event has helped divert valuable, reusable resources from landfills – materials such as gold,copper, and aluminum.
The EPA released some data within the past few years estimating that there is a trend in the US that less than half of end-of-life electronics get recycled per year. That statistic doesn’t have to stay that way. By providing an opportunity for the community to do their part in reducing waste and pollution, we can all fight against the trend of wastefulness and pollution. Plus, it adds a whole new depth to “spring cleaning”.
You can learn more about the Electronic Recycling event here. You can also reach out to Keep Newnan Beautiful at 678-673-5505 or email them at [email protected].
