Skip to content

Longmont Gathers To Take Out The Trash

On Thursday, June 27th, Sustainable Resilient Longmont (SRL) hosted their Community Clean-Up event, to great effect. Led by Board Chair Abby Driscoll, the group of volunteers met in the evening at the Sunflower Bank off Ken Pratt Blvd.

This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

On Thursday, June 27th, Sustainable Resilient Longmont (SRL) hosted their Community Clean-Up event, to great effect. Led by Board Chair Abby Driscoll, the group of volunteers met in the evening at the Sunflower Bank off Ken Pratt Blvd. Focusing on the greenway areas by Left Hand Creek, behind the shopping center and near the Panda Express, the group got to work.

The volunteers before getting started for the evening. (Photos by Matt Maenpaa/Longmont Observer)

Using a free app called Clean Swell, which is sponsored by the Ocean Conservancy, they were able to track all the trash collected and report it accurately. The group managed to gather over 50lbs of trash and recycling, from expected things such as cigarette butts and food containers, but also a hula hoop. 

Fifth grade teacher and Equity Council Member Susan Hidalgo-Fahring. (Photos by Matt Maenpaa/Longmont Observer)

The group, with the assistance of Shari Malloy, had organized another clean up in the same location back in May, where they cleaned up more than a dozen bags of trash. Only six weeks later, there were another eight bags.

Still, Driscoll was pleased with the effort. “It was awesome to see the volunteer turn out. People really coming together, literally getting their hands dirty picking up trash to make our community cleaner.”

The volunteers alongside their haul. (Photos by Matt Maenpaa/Longmont Observer)

Sustainable Resilient Longmont was founded in 2014. They have worked in partnership with the city to help keep Longmont a cleaner place. SRL was key in working with the Zero Waste program to get curbside composting as an option. They are always looking for more volunteers.