A helping hand with spring cleaning
Ellen after a successful London Road cleanup. Photo courtesy of Ellen Siegel.
What would you do if you saw that one of your neighborhood streams was completely clogged by litter?
For Ellen, it was a call to knock the dust off her trusty trash grabbers.
Ellen is one of GreenWorks’ most active DIY cleanup volunteers.
For 20 years, she conducted regular litter cleanups on London Road as part of GreenWorks’ Adopt-a-Street program.
“I feel embarrassed for Asheville that this is such a big problem. We’re a destination city, and I don’t like driving around and seeing all the trash everywhere,” she said.
Ellen took a break for health reasons, but better health—and anger over the rising tide of litter on her neighborhood roads and streams—inspired her to resume regular litter pickup walks with her granddaughter in her Biltmore South neighborhood.
“My granddaughter said: ‘If it's clean, maybe people won’t throw trash, but if they see that trash is already there, they think it’s okay to litter. I think she’s right. When I do a big cleanup, I see that it’s better. That less litter reappears. That encourages me to keep doing it,” Ellen said.
Ellen and her granddaughter have also inspired others to get involved.
“I got on the NextDoor app to encourage folks to bring a bag and pick up litter when they go out for a walk. Now when we’re out, we will see folks walking their dog, and they’ll tell us, ‘Look, I’ve got my bag.’” By inspiring her neighbors to work together, they’ve managed to stay ahead of the litter problem.
Ellen reports that her immediate neighborhood stays very clean.
But the bigger, busier roads nearby are a tougher challenge.
This winter, Ellen and her granddaughter have been devoting several hours each month to cleaning up London and Caribou Roads, where the traffic–and litter volume–are much greater. Their first Caribou Road cleanup took 18 hours over three weeks, plus calls to the City of Asheville to remove the bigger items. However it was necessary to protect her neighborhood stream, which had become dammed by litter.
Ellen is proud of what they’ve accomplished, and hopes others take action too.
“I can only do what I can do, but I’m willing to do it.
I’m just one little person, but a thousand people all doing a little can make a big difference,” she said.
Ellen and her granddaughter on one of their regular litter cleanups. Photo courtesy of Ellen Siegel.
April Spring Litter Sweep
Want help to do a little some spring cleaning in your neighborhood?
From April 15-29, 2023, the City of Asheville, North Carolina Department of Transportation, and Asheville GreenWorks are holding the Spring Litter Sweep.
To honor these mountains we call home, we’re encouraging residents to gather family, friends, and neighbors for a litter cleanup of their neighborhoods during these dates.
Volunteers can borrow cleanup supplies from GreenWorks, including safety vests, gloves, trash grabbers, bags, and SHARPs containers.
Full bags will be collected by the City of Asheville and NCDOT.
Register to let us know where we can find them!
Supplies will be available for pickup beginning April 11, 2023 from Asheville GreenWorks at 2 Sulphur Springs Road, Asheville, NC 28806.
Volunteers can also reserve supplies from NCDOT, 11 Old Charlotte Hwy, Asheville, NC 28803, by calling 828-250-3250.