Wayland CleanUp
News About Us Contact Home

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday, April 18th (2009)
is Wayland Cleans Up Day

Collect Roadside Trash, Sort for Recycling

WAYLAND, MA – This coming Saturday (April 18) is the "official" Wayland Cleans Up Day for 2009, but you are encouraged to pick up litter around town at ANY time during April (and beyond).

2009 Cliff
This is the THIRD bag of trash that Cliff and his wife Ilene picked up between Happy Hollow and the Middle School on election day... most of it on the half-mile stretch between the aqueduct and the Middle School on Rte. 27 (Main St). This bag weighs at least 12 pounds... the others were about the same.... almost all plastic and glass and metal bits... that do not biodegrade.

This year, both WholeFoods Supermarket (Rte. 20 in Wayland Center) and Starbucks Coffee (Rtes. 30 & 27) in Cochituate Village are hosting volunteer sign up tables with refreshments for workers. In particular we are trying to organize a cleanup of the wetland area on the West side of WholeFoods (adults only, bring waterproof boots, poles, hooks, etc.).

Volunteers are urged to find their own areas to pick up trash... typically along sections of roads in town between houses where some people think it's ok to toss litter!!!

We also need help on trails and around the edges of ball fields.

Cleaning up litter along roads, around ball fields and other public areas, has been the mission here of Cliff Kolovson and Chris DeVany for the last four years.

As they did last year, the organizers are working with the Town Landfill staff to place collection dumpsters at Claypit Elementary School and the Wayland High School where residents may deposit their collections vs. having to take it to the landfill.

“Roadside cleanup is best done in the early spring before the grass starts to grow and trees leaf out hiding much of the litter,” says Kolovson. “Now’s the time to get it,” he adds.

He hopes lots of people will turn out this year to collect litter on roadways, town fields and parks, trails and other public areas. High school students can receive community service credit for hours worked, and everyone gets to enjoy a cleaner town. “We need people just to give us a little time and energy to walk, bend over and pick up the trash that others have rudely or carelessly discarded,” Kolovson says.

Kolovson, of Garden Path in the Happy Hollow corner of town, and compatriot DeVany of Moore Road on the north side of Wayland have worked for four years to sponsor a springtime cleanup effort. They are among many bicycle riders and runners in town who see the trash that collects just off the roadways as they cycle and run. Last year, more than 300 people signed a log that they helped clean up around town. A huge amount of trash (including a waterlogged couch, several tires and old grills) was collected and properly disposed of.

Kolovson produces this Web site. This year he urges ANYONE to collect trash ANYTIME during April. Take a photo and he’ll add it to the site…. You can even call him to come take a photo of large collections, and/or for help with any clean up issues.

Already Kolovson and his wife, Ilene Knopping, have collected more than 50 pounds of litter during their morning walks around Dudley Pond and the surrounding area.

Places that seem to collect the most trash are those wooded open spaces between homes, or along undeveloped areas and along wetlands. Clearly, there is ample evidence of people dumping cases of beer cans (with the cardboard cases), and there are just tons of coffee cups, fast-food wrappings, water bottles… and there is no shortage of large items too!

The roadways are most obvious as people just toss stuff from cars. But every ball field and parking lot has plenty of trash around the perimeters. Especially onerous are plastic bags that blow and get caught in trees and bushes. Please snare these and recycle them.

Volunteers should contact either organizer right away by phone or email.
Chris DeVany: cdevany@ppiw.com or 508-358-2370
Cliff Kolovson: cliff@pointed.com or 508-655-9696

Hot spots include:

  • Rte 27 Center to Sudbury Line
  • River Road and Water Row
  • Rice Road end to end, particularly in middle near Hamlin Woods
  • Old CT Path from Rte. 20 to Framingham line
  • Pelham Island Road from Center to Sudbury Line
  • Stonebridge from 126 to Sudbury Line
  • Main Street from town line or Rte. 30 to School St
  • Cochituate Road from School St to Center
  • Plain Road particularly at head off Rte. 20
  • Rte. 20 near the West end, between Russell’s and the town line
  • Rte. 30 in many spots, particularly at the East end

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL WRAP UP of LAST YEAR'S EFFORT!

Road Trash

Above – Three Happy Hollow families combined forces to retrieve some large items dumped on Stonebridge Road in the southwest corner of Wayland. The McAuleys, Boudreaus and Burkes filled the Burke truck with a couch, tires, car seats, lawnmower and other items all pulled from a vernal pond just off the road near the aqueduct.

 
  Today is:      

© Copyright 2008   Pointed Communications