The City’s America Recycles Day @ Boneyard Creek litter cleanup event was held for the sixth time on October 25. There were 41 volunteers, including groups from The Wildlife Society UIUC student chapter, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Curbanism Club, as well as high school, college students, and families, helped make this event a huge success!
With the help of our volunteers, a few pick-up trucks worth of litter and debris (from over a mile of the Boneyard Creek channel throughout the watershed!) were collected and disposed of. Items included broken furniture, blankets, paper, plastic materials, Styrofoam, and cigarette butts (which are the most littered item in the world!). Events such as this help to remove unwanted and harmful debris from our waterways.
America Recycles Day is an initiative of Keep America Beautiful and is nationally held on November 15 to promote and celebrate recycling in the United States. Each Keep America Beautiful affiliate community hosts an event in late October or early November tailored to their unique needs. Our local event was an opportunity to raise awareness for the national America Recycles Day effort.