Gear Hut hosted their first Community Clean-Up this past weekend, in partnership with Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful. On #GreenFriday, the day after Thanksgiving, the two groups had blue skies and balmy temps as volunteers gloved and masked up to pick up trash littering the urban environment. Over 25 folks showed up, with friends, families, kiddos and even dogs to help clean up!
Matt from KTMB showed up bright and early with all the needed supplies for the group. Provided were garbage bags, litter pickers, rubber gloves, shovels, brooms and of course, hand sanitizer. After an orientation, Gear Hut sent crews of masked volunteers out to conquer different locations along the Wells Avenue District. Many folks haven’t had a chance to explore this eclectic neighborhood of small businesses, so it was a good opportunity to scope out new shops as well!
The most collected items during the clean-up included:
-cigarette butts
-straws
-plastic bottles (one time use water, gatorade, etc)
-bottle caps
-plastic bags
-disposable masks (near the VA hospital)
-microtrash (broken plastics bits)
Infographic from futurism.com
Over 15 full bags were collected in the 2 hours that the volunteers scoured the streets and gutters. That’s 15 garbage bags of trash that won’t find their final home in the Truckee River, empty lots, trees and other urban habitats. Most of Reno’s storm drains flow directly to the river. That means after heavy rains and snow melt, anything in the gutters will flood into the river - including cigarette butts, plastic bags and disposable masks. Urban cleanups are invaluable events before these weather patterns sweep in.
A huge thank you to all who chose our environment over big box consumerism last Friday. Gear Hut and Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful were beyond thrilled with the turnout for this event, and are excited to host more clean ups in the future! KTMB provided all volunteers with thank-you gifts of reusable straws and reusable bags, and Gear Hut gave out coupons to shop used gear. Let’s keep items out of the landfills!
Check out our video features on Channel 2 News and in the Reno Gazette Journal where Leah discussed the importance of cleanups, the programming provided by KTMB and the hope that the community supports small business and local economies this holiday season.
-Leah Wzientek
12/1/2020