TRUMBULL, GEAUGA COUNTIES Kids, adults pitch in for litter cleanup

Last year, volunteers picked up 193,000 pounds of trash.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- About 10,000 people are expected to hit the streets, parks and woods in Trumbull and Geauga counties next month as part of an annual litter cleanup campaign.
Adults join in, as well as children at many area schools.
"The kids really enjoy it," said Amanda Chilson, leader of three Girl Scout troops at Mesopotamia Elementary School.
For the past three years, about 20 troop members and a handful of parents have taken on the litter in township parks in Mesopotamia and Bloomfield during the Great American Cleanup, April 1-30.
"From fast-food wrappers, pop cans, license plates, boots," she said. "I can't name everything we have found."
Last year, the Mespo Elementary School Girl Scouts filled three trash bags with park refuse.
In all, about 193,000 pounds of litter were picked up last year by 10,329 volunteers in the two counties, said Holly Carine, who coordinates the program for the Trumbull-Geauga Solid Waste Management District.
A professional acting troupe performed for some 1,700 pupils and staff at four Trumbull County elementary schools in Warren, Cortland, McDonald and Newton Falls to excite children about cleanup events in their communities.
Picking the areas: Groups are encouraged to select sections of the county they would like to clean. Maps and registration forms are available at all local libraries, Carine said.
Registration is available online at www.startrecycling.com, or by calling the solid-waste management district at (330) 675-2673 or (800) 707-2673.
Besides the spots that groups choose on their own, seven areas in Trumbull County are being targeted for special attention, where volunteers can drop by and help out on the cleanup date assigned to each location.
Information on those sites also is available at the district office at 2931 Youngstown Road.
"This is the only way to get rid of it," Carine said.
The waste district provides collection bags and packets of flower seeds to volunteers. It has ordered 10,000 bags for this year's event.
Keeping areas clean helps to discourage future littering, Carine said.